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JULY 11, 2000

Today, June 11, marks the 10-year anniversary of the police raid on Kanesatake Mohawk resisters, who had set up a barricade in protest of the expansion of a golf resort in Oka, Quebec. The raid turned into an armed 78-day standoff, resulting in the death of one officer.

The incident also raised many questions of land claims and how indigenous nations are treated by other countries. The 10-year anniversary is also the subject of different retrospectives, most by non-Natives

Guy Gilbert, the coroner who investigated Oka, says the government shouldn't have allowed the police to resolve the crisis. He said the problem was political and social, not criminal.

Former Quebec Native Affairs Minister John Ciaccia says Oka could have been avoided had the government listened to him on the Mohawk's land claims. His book "The Oka Crisis: A Mirror of the Soul" will be released next Monday.

The Kanesatake recently signed an interim agreement with the federal government on land claims in the area. The agreement gives them control of about 1,200 hectares of land purchased by the government over the last 75 years.

The land will remain the legal property of the government, but the Kanesatake will manage and operate the land, establishing their own laws, zoning rules, and dispute processes.

The Montreal Gazette today issues an editorial saying the agreement represents a step in the right direction. The Gazette says there are many challenges still lying ahead.

Ian MacLeod, a National Post reporter who covered Oka, writes a commentary in today's paper. He recalls the event as one where the Mohawk saw themselves as simply defending their rights but non-Natives and the government viewed it as an uprising.

Get the Story:
Coroner says Oka wasn't for police to resolve (CBC 7/11)
Oka crisis Ottawa's fault: Ciaccia (CBC 7/10)
EDITORIAL: Kanesatake, 10 years later (The Montreal Gazette 7/11)
Ian MacLeod: Beauty and bloodshed under the pines (CBC 7/11)