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Topic spans: 1989 - 2000
The Oka Crisis
In the summer of 1990, all eyes were on the small town of Oka for a showdown between native people, Quebec police and eventually the Canadian army. The violent clash was triggered by something as simple as a golf course and as complicated as native burial traditions. The Oka Crisis drew worldwide attention, catapulting native land rights into the spotlight. (Note: Some clips contain explicit language.)
Image of Canadian soldier face-to-face with native by Shaney Komulainen/Canadian Press.
8 television clips
4 radio clips
Dramatic showdown
Broadcast Date: Sept. 1, 1990
It's a scene of hysteria, pandemonium and high tension as more than 2,500 soldiers descend upon Oka. People prepare for the worst as the army advances to the main barricade at the edge of the sacred Mohawk territory. Images of tanks and soldiers in full combat fatigue fill TV screens. A dramatic stare-off between a Canadian soldier and a Mohawk warrior known as Lasagna comes to symbolize the gulf between the two sides. (Warning: contains explicit language.)Dramatic showdown
• Mohawk warrior Ronald Cross, better known as Lasagna, got his nickname from his mother's Italian cooking. He died in 1999, at age 41, of heart failure.• Cross became the symbol of the stand-off when he was mistaken for the masked warrior standing nose-to-nose with a Canadian soldier. Although it wasn't actually Cross in the photo, the incident gained him notoriety.
• At one point there were as many as 12 native barricades in Quebec. Riots broke out three nights in a row in the nearby town of Chateauguay. Commuters were angry at the sympathy barricades, put up by Mohawks of Kahnawake. The Mohawks had blocked the Mercier bridge, a main artery in to Montreal.
Dramatic showdown
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: Sept. 1, 1990
Host: Knowlton Nash
Reporter: Neil MacDonald
Duration: 3:10
Last updated:
July 14, 2009
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12 clips in this topic . page
Television
8:02
The filmmaker describes some harrowing moments in the making of her 1993 documentary of the Oka crisis.
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oka · oka crisis · native rights · kanesatake · land claims
Dramatic showdown.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: July 14, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 9, 2010.]