Developed By

Gregory Desrosiers

The bus shown on this picture is of property of Longueuil RTL, AMT and NovaBus Inc. This photo was taken by Gregory Desrosiers on December 30, 2010 and is for use in Gregory Desrosiers’ personalized logo only.

Presented to

Ms. YaworskiCTW 504-03

May 24, 2011Heritage Regional High School

St-Hubert, Quebec

The Oka Crisis

A PowerPoint Presentation by Gregory Desrosiers

© 2011 Gregory Desrosiers, Riverside School Board. All rights, including some visuals and text are trademarks and/or copyrighted material of their

respectful owners. All rights reserved.

Assignment created by Riverside School Board and Ms. Yaworski.

Published to Heritage Regional High School by Ms. Yaworski.

What is the Oka Crisis?The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between the following groups:

-The Mohawks (First Nations people from the Kanesatake and the Kahnawake Reserves)-The town of Oka (Quebecors, including Jean Ouelette and the Council of Oka)- Lasted between July 11, 1990 to September 26, 1990

Who are the groups?The Mohawks (Aboriginals)

• Threatened because their land was taken for development

• Existed in Canada for hundreds of years

• Existed before the Europeans arrived

Who are the groups?The Town of Oka (Quebecors)

• A developed society where developing the land for the city was to be continued

Where is Oka located?

• West of Montreal, on the north side of the Ottawa River

What made the crisis happen?

In 1717• Governor of New France granted land in

present-day Oka• Included a cemetery and the pines for a

Catholic seminary• Until the crisis, Mohawks believed the land

grant was illegal

What made the crisis happen?

1936• Territory sold, vacated and the seminary was

cleared1961• Portion of land was used to build a nine-hole

golf course• Tensions started building between Mohawks

and Quebecors

What made the crisis happen?

• Mohawks launched a legal protest against the construction team of the golf course

1976• Repetitive claims and research was rejected by the council of

Oka1989• Jean Ouelette, mayor of Oka, announced expansion of the golf

course to eighteen holes and building of sixty condominiums• Plans proceeded without consulting the Mohawks• Mohawks were provoked more because the expansion was to

be made on their ancestral burial grounds

What does the conflict stem from?

Territory and Resources• The land New France granted in 1717 belonged to

the Mohawks• They believed to live in harmony with natureDesire for Political Autonomy• First Nations people are not seen by the government • Not treated very well since the Europeans arrived in

Canada in the 1500s and 1600s for land claims and building power

What happened in the crisis?March 1990• Mohawks erected two barricades•Main one on westbound intersection of St. Michel St. and Girouard St.•Anti-tank barricade on other side of reserved land to be used by the golf course called “The Pines”

What happened in the crisis?

June 11, 1990• 100 officers from the Surete du Quebec were sent upon

order from the mayor to storm the barricades• Tear gas was thrown onto the Mohawk side• Both groups opened fire when the gas flew back at the

officers

Soon, the Mohawks were joined by other Mohawk groups across Quebec, Canada and upstate New York.

What did the supporters do?The supporting Mohawks blocked the following:•Mercier Bridge on the Kahnawake Reserve side•Quebec Route 132, 138 and 207

Kahnawake Reserve is located on the South Shore of Montreal.

The picture on the right shows the Mohawk’s blockage to the Mercier Bridge.

What happened next?An offer was made by the Government of Canada:•Mohawks would earn $5.3 million in using their land for the expansion of the golf course•Mohawks rejected the offer because of their resistance to lose memories of their ancestors and not being able to be close to them when praying since the course would not allow the Mohawks to enter and pray

What happened next?SQ lost control of the situation• Marcel Lemay, one of the

officers, was killed• SQ fled when Lemay was shot• Mohawks used the leftover police

cruisers and a front-end loader to build another barricade

The photo on the right shows part of the barricade erected by the Mohawks.

What did Canada do?

Robert Bourassa, premier of Quebec, called:• the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) because neither group was

willing to dismantle their barrcades• Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to have 4000 troops on standby for

reinforcement on August 8

SQ called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)• Arrived on August 14, 1990• Not allowed to use force• Soon overwhelmed by the Mohawks and the mobs created by the

blocked traffic

What did Canada do?The CAF:• rolled into the scene in tanks about

two weeks after standby• part of the army was the Royal 22nd

Regiment a.k.a Van Doos• stormed the three barricades and

reduced the rebellion to one small perimeter on August 20

• marked the perimeter with razor wireThe picture on the right shows one

Mohawk and one CAF soldier come face-to-face

What happened in the last days of the crisis?

August 29• Mohawks blocking the Mercier Bridge negotiated an end to their protest

with CAF Lieutenant Colonel Robin Gagnon• Gagnon also monitored the blockades on the South Shore• Mohawks felt betrayed as the the Government of Quebec rejected all

further negotiationsSeptember 25• Mohawks taunted the soldiers and threw water balloonsSeptember 26• Last barricade was taken down

September 26, 1990

Mohawks were defeated• 50 Mohawks dropped their weapons and walked to the

soldiers• Some threw their guns onto a fire• Ceremonially burned tobacco• Walked back to their reserves• Many were arrested by the SQ and taken into custody by the

CAF

Was the conflict resolved?The conflict has been resolved.

What caused it to end?• Quebecors earned enough backup to break the barricades and bring the

Mohawks into custody• Took weeks after the SQ withdrew from the battle when Marcel Lemay

was shot• Chiefs were gathered during the crisis• Some accomplishment was made by the roadblocks and RCMP’s

restriction to use force, but did not last very long• CAF can overcome the setbacks because they are part of modern Canada

which overpowers Aboriginal traditions

Extra ContentIf you want to know what was the experience during the Oka Crisis and/or what happened the day the CAF pushes the Mohawk territory, watch this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ldZTjlfgE

This video is 3 minutes 11 seconds long. It is the recording of a news report by CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) that went across to the people who became aware of the crisis and even the people who faced the roadblocks on the Mercier Bridge and Quebec Routes 132, 138 and 207 as well as Mohawk supporters, the CAF, the inhabitants of Oka and the surrounding towns that experienced the Oka Crisis.

This video is for educational purposes only.

Oka Crisis CreditsDevelopment and Presentation byGregory Desrosiers

Developed usingMicrosoft Office PowerPoint 2007

Assignment Created byMs. Yaworski of Heritage Regional High SchoolRiverside School Board (Consulting Services for Contemporary World)

Published byMs. Yaworski

Oka Crisis CreditsLegal Information

All information is not owned by Gregory Desrosiers. It has been written in the developer’s own words from original sources. Original sources can be found in the “Contemporary World – Conflict Research Notes” document.

All photos are not owned by Gregory Desrosiers except the “NovaBUS owned by RTL” photo. They have been saved from original sources. The “NovaBUS owned by RTL” photo is owned and taken by Gregory Desrosiers, but the bus is of trademarks and/or copyrighted material of Reseau de Transport de Longueuil, Agence metropolitaine de transport and NovaBUS Inc.

The “Riverside School Board” photo was saved by Gregory Desrosiers originally on August 12, 2007, but at the time of production of this PowerPoint Presentation, it was no longer on the school board’s website.

Oka Crisis CreditsLegal Information

Photos are saved from the following websites:• http://concordia.ewb.ca/sisterschools/?p=332• http://www.archivefire.net/2010/08/kanesetake-mohawks-resisting.html• http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/Video+Remembering+Kanesatake+July+199

0/3259209/story.html?id=3259209• http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do

%3Bjsessionid=D3302A808E15C41876FBCCB63104009D?method=preview&lang=EN&id=1072• http://www.cyberarts.ca/site/studentgallery/multimedia/history/queeniechow/picpages/oka_all.htm• http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2010/07/06/montreal-oka-crisis-south-shore-

anniversary.html• http://bermudaradical.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/twenty-years-after-the-oka-crisis-injustice-continues/

(Need Google Image Search for full resolution picture)• http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/2010/07/28/004-OKA-reserve-fonciere.shtml• http://caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/is-oka-round-2-about-to-erupt/• http://pages.slic.com/mohawkna/mnprel.htm• http://www.traverseoka.qc.ca/carte.html

A PowerPoint Presentation by Gregory Desrosiers© 2011 Gregory Desrosiers, Riverside School Board. All rights,

including some visuals and text are trademarks and/or copyrighted material of their respectful owners. All rights

reserved.Assignment created by Riverside School Board and Ms. Yaworski.

Published to Heritage Regional High School by Ms. Yaworski.