H A R VA R D I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E V I E W An art piece entitled "Quilt of Belonging," representing all Canada’s first peoples, on display in the G20 summit. Toronto, Canada. June 2010.
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t’s a tale as old as Canada itself: contested First Nations land rights, a lucrative land development, escalating tensions leading to excessive force and damaged relations. For those who know of the Oka Crisis of 1990, history seems to be repeating itself with the latest conflict over the development of a gas pipeline running through Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia. The prevailing strategy for dealing with First Nations land rights does not appear to have changed substantially in the last 30 years, leaving many wondering what it will take for the Canadian government to finally learn from its dismal re-
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cord of protecting First Nations’ rights and commit to the path of reconciliation. Oka is a small village less than an hour outside of Montreal. Its original name is Kanehsatà:ke, a name given to it by the Kanien’kehà:ka (or Mohawk) who are the traditional custodians of the land. In 1717, the Seminary of St-Sulpice mission in Montreal was told to relocate, and French King Louis XV granted them the land encompassing Kanehsatà:ke. The understanding was that the Sulpicians would hold the land in trust for its First Nations inhabitants, but they reneged on this commitment and claimed sole
ownership rights. With these newfound rights the Sulpicians began clearing land and selling off plots to European settlers, marking the beginning of a new era. Even though they were not legally recognized as the owners of the land, the Mohawk continued to build their community around Kanehsatà:ke. An 1881 government initiative to force indigenous inhabitants to leave was largely unsuccessful, and five years later the Mohawk would create the land of “the Pines” that would become the center of the Oka Crisis over a century later. This land consisted of a mountain area where
