Category Archives: Defending Territory
Behind the lines: Invisible scars left by Oka Crisis 25 years later
Mohawks from Kanesatake, Que., march to mark the 25th anniversary of the Oka Crisis, in Oka, Que., on Saturday, July 11, 2015. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz
Mohawk journalist Dan David reflects on his time during Oka Summer
By Dan David, CBC News, July 11, 2015
At 5 a.m. on the morning of July 11, I’ll be with traditional people and a few guests in The Pines on Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Territory. There won’t be any government people, politicians, or members of the band council.
No long speeches, preening egos, or empty promises allowed. Just a few people who wish to reflect on the meanings of events that began on a day exactly 25 years before. Read the rest of this entry
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
On a July 11, 1990, a confrontation propelled Native issues in Kanehsatake and the village of Oka, Quebec, into the international spotlight. Director Alanis Obomsawin spent 78 nerve-wracking days and nights filming the armed stand-off between the Mohawks, the Quebec police and the Canadian army. This powerful documentary takes you right into the action of an age-old Aboriginal struggle. The result is a portrait of the people behind the barricades.
The Oka Crisis in five minutes
by Submedia TV
The so called “Oka Crisis” is one of the most legendary battles between indigenous land defenders and settles in the last century. This uprising against colonization set the tone for native resistance in Turtle Island to this day. We as subMedia.tv like to big up the Mohawks of Kanehsatà:ke whenever possible, and in honor of the 25th anniversary of this rupture, we bring you two videos from our vault. Read the rest of this entry
Revisiting the Pines: Oka’s legacy
Warriors at Oka, 1990; the 78-day armed standoff at Kanesatake, Mohawk territory, continues to haunt government and corporations in their dealings with Indigenous peoples.
by Marian Scott, Montreal Gazette, July 10, 2015
KANESATAKE — Behind the barricade at the entrance to the Pines, Denise David tossed and turned, dreaming of a deadly melée between unknown foes.
Her nightmare was about to come true.
It was the morning of July 11, 1990, a day that would rudely awaken Canadians to the anger simmering in First Nations communities. Read the rest of this entry
“Oka Crisis” 25 Year Anniversary Poster PDF
To mark the 25 year anniversary of the 1990 “Oka Crisis” Warrior Publications has released this 11X17 inch colour poster by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Gord Hill. You can download this PDF and print it out on a colour laser printer. Help keep the history of Indigenous resistance alive! To download click Oka 1990 Anniversary Poster 1. Read the rest of this entry
Still warriors: Kahnawake Mohawks are ready to take up arms to defend their beliefs
Sign at entrance to Kahnawake.
by Graeme Hamilton, National Post, July 9, 2015
KAHNAWAKE, QUE. — Early on July 11, 1990, when Bryan Deer’s radio crackled with news the Sûreté du Québec was moving in on Kanesatake with tear gas and concussion grenades, he and his fellow Mohawk Warriors in Kahnawake knew what had to be done.
Within an hour, they had seized the Mercier Bridge, preventing rush-hour traffic from crossing the vital link between their reserve on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River and Montreal. Read the rest of this entry
Oka Crisis deepened understanding of land claims in Canada
Warriors keep watch and read the funnies at Kanesatake, 1990.
25th anniversary dredges up difficult memories for those involved
By Giuseppe Valiante and Peter Rakobowchuk, The Canadian Press/CBC News, July 7, 2015
It was a crisis that grabbed international headlines, with Mohawks and Canadian soldiers involved in a lengthy stand-off that often appeared on the verge of exploding into full-blown combat.
Twenty-five years on, the legacy of the Oka Crisis for many of those who experienced the tension west of Montreal is a greater awareness of indigenous issues. Read the rest of this entry
Twenty-five years later: Oka Crisis events inspired native movements around the world
Mohawk warrior with SKS rifle stands atop overturned police car, July 11, 1990.
By The National Post/Canadian Press
Long Shadow of the Pines: 25 Years Since the 1990 Oka Crisis
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bs9TUrskInM“>
My name is Clifton Arihwakehte Nicholas, I am a Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) from Kanehsatake (Oka). I was a young man involved in the 1990 Oka Crisis from it’s start and throughout that summer. The Crisis was a critical point both in my life and in the community of Kanehsatake. It’s impact is still being felt in Kanehsatake and moreover throughout Indigenous communities and movements in Canada from coast to coast. An examination and retrospection of those events needs to be told by those intimately involved in that historic summer. Furthermore a wider perspective as to the impact the crisis had on Indigenous people, movements and the government responses to them in light of the events of 1990 from Idle No More to Elsipogtog. Read the rest of this entry
Hawaii: Giant telescope work crews turn back; 11 arrested
One of eleven people arrested today blockading construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
West Hawaii Today, June 24, 2015
Workers trying to make their way up Mauna Kea to restart construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope were forced to turn back after protesters blocked the road to the summit with a trail of large rocks.
Starting early this morning, five trucks being escorted by police were stopped repeatedly by more than 300 protesters who set up about two dozen “lines of defense” across the Mauna Kea access road near the Visitor Information Station, which is located at the 9,200-feet elevation.
Warrior Publications 