Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance- Exerpts - Alanis Obomsawin was born on August 31, 1932 and is an Abenaki filmmaker, singer, artist and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance is a feature-length film documentary film by her, chronicling the standoff between the people of Kanehsatà:ke and the Quebec and federal governments. The film was released on January 28, 1993. Alanis Obomsawin was in Kanehsatà:ke when the confrontation took place.[1] Narrator: The story you will see takes place near Montreal and Kanehsatà:ke, a Mohawk village near the town of Oka and in Kahnawà:ke, a Mohawk reserve south of the city at the Mercier Bridge. Seventy kilometers west of Montreal, the municipality of Oka has approved a luxury housing development and the expansion of a private, 9-hole golf course to 18 holes into ‘The Pines,' which is part of the Mohawk Nation's land. In the early morning of March 10, 1990, the people of Kanehsatà:ke began a protest on a dirt road leading to the golf couerse. They were given until Monday, July 9 by the mayor of Oka to obey a court injunction granted to his municipality before calling for police action. In the early 1930s, some people in Oka began playing golf on ‘The Commons'. The Mohawks complained that their cattle were being chased away with golf sticks and that there was nothing for the animals to eat. In 1947, the municipality expropriated ‘The Commons.' Even the Mohawks' burial ground became the property of Oka. By 1961, after many trees were cut, the private golf course was completed. Kahentiiosta: I came up here and I says "So where's the road block?" They said: "It's right here." I said: "This is the road we're blocking? This is the road you've been blocking for 3 months. It's a dirt road! I thought it was maybe a highway, you know. Geez!" Ellen Katsi'tsákwas Gabriel: [On July 11] John Cree, our spiritual leader, had just started burning tobacco and he was giving thanks. And it was about 5:15 when the Tilden trucks rolled in and the SWAT team came out. And there was the 3 of us that just looked at each other and one of the women, that said "Holy shit, they're here!" Our instincts kicked in and we said the women have to go to the front, because it's our obligation to do that, to protect the land, our mother. And I can remember looking at the faces of the SWAT team and they were all scared. They were like young babies who had never met a spirit, because we were fighting something without a spirit. There was no thought to it, they were like robots. Robert Skidders (Mad Jap): Now when they kept advancing, we asked for a chain saw. We notched the first notch and we started the second notch. The wind picked up and the upper part the tree sound like it was falling, sound like a cracking sound, like the tree was coming down. [...] and they started screaming and taking off, and they started tripping and everything else, running back to the road. But as they were running, the tear-gassed and percussion-bombed us. Kahentiiosta: For sure we weren't moving now. They could try whatever they want to get us out, but we weren't leaving. Narrator: The Pines are still when the police throw tear gas at the people standing there. Suddenly, the wind comes and the smoke turns towards the police and onto Highway 344. In support of the Kanehsatà:ke people, the warriors of Kahnawà:ke block all highways leading into their reserve. By 7:00 am, they closed the Mercier Bridge, which handles over 65,000 vehicles a day. Kahentiiosta: "Get down, everybody get down." So they start running. I says "Hit the ground. You gotta lay down," cause there's shots, uh. But once that first shot, first bullets, then our men started shooting back. Narrator: The people in The Pines are very sa when they hear that Corporal Lemay has died. And they know that they will be blamed, no matter where the bullet came from. Robert Skidders: After Lemay was hit, they come in with an ambulance, remove Corporal Lemay and they all retreated immediately. I believe when the firing started was when they started jumping them shrubs. And any hitting of a tree, any hitting of a shrub or falling would fire it. It could have been by accident on their part. Kahentiiosta: Whoever had the car keys must have took off. And he left the men, their own men. They couldn't run away, I mean they couldn't drive away. They couldn't drive away because it was all locked. Narrator: The warriors react immediately. They use a front-end loader abandoned by the Sureté du Québec to make several barricades, this time on the main highway, the 344. The first stand is made in The Pines by the Longhouse people. The Mohawks now present a united front in spite of tensions among different factions in Kanehsatà:ke. Warriors from other communities come to support their brothers and sisters in The Pines. Ellen Katsi'tsákwas Gabriel: I think we all conducted ourselves in a very honourable way, because we did try to avoid violence. And we know what they came there for. And we know that as it progressed, something really bad could happen. We just felt it. It was something that you could taste almost in the air. Narrator: A very tense atmosphere prevails. More than 1,000 police officers arrive in Oka, a village of 1800 people. Heavily armed police set up road blocks about 5 kilometers outside the village ... Note1. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Alanis Obomsawin, National Film Board. To view the film, click here.  Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |