Oka Crisis

Today I will write on the Oka crisis. I will write about the chain of events that occurred and caused the many problems for Canada. This was all caused by a proposal to build a golf course on Mohawk sacred land. This proved to be a problem that effected the whole country. The three mistakes that I will bring to attention are first the lack of consulting on the part of the town of Oka, second the police meeting the Mohawk with violence, and third the lack of corporation by Canada's government.

This all started in March of 1990. The reason it began was because there was a golf course planned to be built on Mohawk sacred land. The Mohawk decided to arm themselves and make a road block to prohibit access to there sacred land. The first big reason that caused this was the town of Oka not consulting the Mohawk when making pans to build the golf course. This lack of involvement caused the Mohawk to have to take matters into there own hands they stopped the people from being able to build the Golf course. This was the major mistake that set violence into play.

The next mistake was made by the police they sent in a swat team to clear out the blockade. The problem with this was that they met violence with violence. This mistake cost Corporal Marcel Lemay his life. The police could have found out what the problem was and negotiate with the Mohawk people. This was a very costly mistake they should have thought before they shot.

The last mistake caused violence by the whole Canadian first nation population. The reason for this was because Canada sent the army in to control the Mohawk blockade. This looked bad and caused the first nations of Canada to see how unfair it was for them. They came together and supported the Mohawk. The native people burned bridges made there own blockades, and protested with there fellow first nation Mohawks. All the government had to do was to treat the people natives in the Oka crisis fair and negotiate with them. This could have prevented all three of these problems.

I really believe these problems could have been avoided. people could have talked and gotten a compromise. The native poeple needed the government to pay atention to them and nogotiate with them. Since the government did not do this they had to get the governments attention through violence. I'm not saying that I think what the Mohawk did was good but I think it worked for them.