By Harry Blutstein
There is nothing particularly remarkable to the casual visitor about Oka, a small town about 60 kilometres north west of Montreal. At the junction of the Ottawa River and the St Lawrence, it is an affluent village with the occasional launching ramp along the shore. Behind this facade of affluence, is a community under siege. The evidence is for all to see. Each house has a "For Sale" sign out the front. Few have sold despite being on the market for over two years.
Not everyone who lives in Oka is wealthy. Living nearby is a large population of Mohawks, who in September 1990 set out from Oka and blockaded the Mercier Bridge leading onto Montreal. Toting AK-47 semi-automatic assault rifles, the Warriors (as they called themselves) held out for 78 days, leaving behind them one dead policeman.
The dispute was about the expansion of a local golf course into a tribal burial area.
Following the confrontation, Canada's aboriginals were left with a small victory, a rare occurrence during over 450 years of occupation — first by the French and then English colonists.
It is not surprising that the aboriginals have little sympathy for the struggle going on in Canada between Québec and English provinces. French Québec has demanded almost equal powers to English Canada and recognition as a "distinct society", based on their status as one of the two "Founding Nations". This claim rings hollow with the "First Nations" — the Cree, Mohawks, Inuit and other tribes that have occupied the northern part of the continent for thousands of years — who see English and French alike as invaders.
The animosity between the French and the First Nations is mutual. Many Québec nationalist still resent Elijah Harper blocking ratification of the 1990 Meech Lake Accord in the Manitoban legislature, which resulted in its defeat. The accord would have given Québec the constitutional concessions, including recognition as a "distinct society", it had demanded as a minimum condition for staying in the confederation. In the far north of the province Cree Indians are having a running battle with the Québec government, which wants to build a giant hydro-electric scheme on James Bay, which would alienate traditional hunting and fishing grounds.
Québec is concerned about the rights given to aboriginal people in the Charlottetown Accord, which Canada could use to claim retention of large tracts of an independent Québec on behalf of the aboriginal people, using aboriginal self-government as a justification.
The Charlottetown Accord included a number of concession to were:
- Recognition of the inherent right of Aboriginal people of self-government as a "third level" within the confederation;
- Treaty rights would be guarantied; where disputes existed the federal government agreed to interpret treaty conditions "in a just, broad and liberal manner";
- Senate seats would be reserved for representatives from the aboriginal people.
While the constitutional package was defeated by French and English Canada alike, perhaps the most surprising outcome was that 62% of Indians on reserves voted against the accord. The reluctance of aboriginal people, particularly those on reserves, reflects their distrust the effect self-government could have to existing treaty conditions. The minority of aboriginal people that supported the accord were non-treaty Indians, estimated to number 350,000, and could only gain.
Until more time is given to aboriginals to properly evaluate the implications of self-government, Miles Morrisseau, editor of Nativebeat argued "natives should press their leaders to pull out of the constitutional process... Just because the rest of the country feels it has to answer Québec deadlines doesn't mean that we should".
Internal dissension has developed within the First Nations, and this will take time to overcome. As there are 633 Indians tribes living on 2300 reserves, together with 35,000 Inuit and 50,000 Mtis (mixed Indian and French ancestry), obtaining agreement will be difficult.
Will white Canada, however, wait?
There are also aboriginals groups that are showing signs of impatience. The militant Mohawks in Oka could find themselves joined by others who are willing to take direct action.
Natives in Québec, particularly among the young, are among the most extreme, and many think that they may get a better deal from a tolerant Canada than a xenophobic Québec. "We will not allow the jurisdiction [of Québec] of over our lands to continue", declared Mohawk Chief Billy Two Rivers during the constitutional referendum debate.
If Oka is a sample of what is to come, then the gulf between white Canada's tolerance and the native people's impatience may be put to the test, and if either fails then the future may bring escalating conflict between aboriginal people and the rest of Canada.