How The Oka Crisis Played A Key Role In Canadian History

The Oka crisis was a clash between a group of Mohawks mainly from the Kanesatake reserve, and the Quebec police over a disputed land that contained a Mohawk burial ground. The Mayor of Oka declared that the land would be used for a golf course expansion, and as a result barricades were erected by protesters in an attempt to halt construction (1). The conflict illustrated Canada’s inequality toward aboriginal people, proved that aboriginals would resort to aggression, and played a key role in creating the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The Oka crisis is significant to Canadian history because it showed Canada still had prejudice against its Aboriginal people, showed that natives were willing to use violence to defend their rights, and

The first example of how the Oka crisis showed that natives were willing to use violence to defend their rights is natives from across the country uniting to defend the barricades not only to support the protesters, but to bring light to the general issue of aboriginal rights (5). Another example of how the crisis proved that Natives were willing to use violence to defend their rights is, short gunfights between protesters and police men taking place and Corporal Marcel Lemay being killed as a result (6). This is significant to Canadian history because it proved that First Nations would take extreme measures to ensure that their demands were met. Barney McLeod, a native involved in the crisis stated in an interview "It made me feel better to be native. I felt stronger" (7). In conclusion, the Oka Crisis showed that Natives were willing to use violence to defend their rights by Mohawks from across the country gathering to join the protest, and gunfights breaking out between protesters and police, which all contributed to the government finally focusing its efforts to aid aboriginal

It proved Canada was still unjust to its natives because the aboriginals of Oka had their land claim rejected both in 1961 and 1989. Also, at one point of the Oka crisis, about 75 cars containing native women, children, and elderly were stoned while they tried to leave the reserve. The Oka crisis proved that that natives would resort to violence to make sure their demands were met in terms of natives from across Canada uniting to help the protesters and at the same time bring the governments attention to the overall issue of aboriginal rights. Also, brief gunfights occurred, resulting in the death of corporal Marcel Lemay. The Oka crisis brought the governments attention to aboriginal in terms of the Mulroney government creating the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in response to the Oka crisis. The Commissions report suggested that the government spend $30 billion in self government initiatives and compensation