A Rude Awakening and Deep Wounds

The Oka Crisis left deep wounds in Québec society, Mohawk communities and Aboriginal people in general. We must not forget that a police officer was killed in the line of duty and that the communities of Kanesatake and Kahnawake were under siege for over two months. The whole social fabric of these communities was weakened. The face off between heavily armed police officers and Mohawk warriors, in addition to Canadian army intervention and armoured vehicles, made the events look like an insurgency and state of war, the outcome of which was totally unpredictable.

The blockade of the Honoré-Mercier Bridge lasted 56 days, causing traffic chaos for thousands of motorists. While numerous attempts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the dispute failed, there were daily protests by angry citizens and outbursts, especially on open-line radio shows.

Divisions within the Mohawk First Nation and the Aboriginal community of Oka itself, and the emphasis placed on Mohawk sovereignty to the detriment of the Oka land dispute made an agreement virtually impossible. In an interview granted to anthropologist Pierre Trudel, Clifton Nicholas, a former Mohawk warrior from Kanesatake who was 18 at the time of the Oka Crisis, said, in hindsight:

It’s true that we lost sight of the golf course expansion at the negotiating table and that some focused on sovereignty . . .  I understand why our people wanted to take advantage of the exposure afforded on a daily basis to promote Aboriginal sovereignty. It was also a matter of giving our actions political meaning.

Nicholas and Trudel, 2017

The day after the crisis broke out in July 1990, the majority of Quebecers expressed some sympathy for the Mohawk cause. Over time, however, the failed negotiations helped fuel heightened tensions between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Moreover, the crisis gave rise to unacceptable acts of violence and tragic events. On August 28, 1990, angry non-Aboriginal protesters threw stones at cars carrying women, children and seniors trying to leave Kahnawake. Several people were injured, and, little known, a 71-year-old resident of Kahnawake, Joseph Armstrong, who received a stone in his chest, died the next day from a heart attack (St-Amand 2015, 63), the second loss of life resulting from this historical crisis. In short, there were many victims and incalculable human costs to the Oka Crisis. But most of all, the crisis provided fertile ground for growth of a negative popular perception of Aboriginal people due to a poor understanding of the issues in dispute and the situation of Aboriginal peoples in general.

There was little, if any, public interest in Aboriginal issues prior to the Oka Crisis. Despite the media hype surrounding the crisis, this difficult period in our history unquestionably woke Quebecers up to the First Peoples who share the land. The Oka Crisis raised awareness among both the general public and political elites about many issues. Let us not forget that it was in the wake of the Oka Crisis that the federal government set up the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. As will be seen in the final chapters, the Oka Crisis also led to numerous initiatives to bring Quebecers and First Nations together.

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