Perhaps it is not surprising to hear the people themselves explain the way they were able to adapt the concept of family to their needs. Twenty-five years on, the legacy of the Oka Crisis for many of those who experienced the tension west of Montreal is a greater awareness of indigenous issues. She was detained for six full days. I actually first saw Alanis in person behind the barricades at the Oka Crisis, back in 1990. 2nd Editon. The threads that run through Obomsawin’s Oka films do not single out issues or prioritize. However, Jeff York and Loreen Pindera assert that after tense land disputes over the Seaway in 1968, Warrior Society evolved from the Singing Society that had developed in an effort to preserve Mohawk language and culture through traditional songs and drumming. The children, including Kanehtiisota’s two boys, were released to family. On October 5th the men were released from custody and returned to Kanawake; all this for a name in English or French but not in Mohawk. Obomsawin directed her first documentary for the NFB, Christmas at Moose Factory, in 1971. Related Posts. She however was held four days longer because she refused to give her “Canadian” name. The incident on August 28th directs attention to the violent hatred of 500 angry residents on the South Shore of the Mercier Bridge. Essays   The prosecutor representing the Quebec government did not accept her Indigenous name. Kanehtiisota on the other hand was held for four days longer than the other women on account of her insistence on using her Mohawk name. Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has made documentaries about the Oka Crisis, including Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) and Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000). On a July day in 1990, a confrontation propelled Native issues in Kanehsatake and the village of Oka, Quebec, into the international spotlight. "[The provincial police] took my cousin Angus Jacob and brought him to the back of a barn and handcuffed him to a metal chair," he said in an interview. "It's a small example but a good one to show how we are adapting our institutions with native realities and I think they will bring great benefits in the future," he said. According to Brain Johansen, Warrior Society did not emerge in print until the 1989 gambling and smuggling disputes between the Mohawks of Akwsesasne and the State of New York. As the song heightens, the circle dance becomes tighter, which is symbolic of indigenous solidarity and the coming together as One. NY: Routledge, 2004. The significance of the burial grounds is yet another thread that weaves its way through Obomsawin’s four Oka films. White, Jerry, “Alanis Obomsawin, Documentary Form and the Canadian Nation[s]”, Cineaction 49, 1999, pp.26-36. "You reach a point after a while where you have to make a stand," Kanesatake resident Linda Simon, who experienced the violence, said in an interview. Twenty-five years on, the legacy of the Oka Crisis for many of those who experienced the tension west of Montreal is a greater awareness of indigenous issues. From the Oka Crisis, during which a group of Mohawk engaged in a 78-day standoff with Canadian police and military in defense of their land, to the story of First Nations Vietnam War veteran Eugene Benedict, Obomsawin has been there documenting, educating, and … As Lewis purports Obomsawin “listens to the subject and allows even the most vulnerable child to be heard as a distinct individual” (87). Kanehtiisota holds steadfast to the notion that “the young ones see and become stronger.” As a result many of the children who grew up in the aftermath—and the few who remember—are now referred to as “Oka Babies.” This is so that they are always reminded of the struggle of their people and to reaffirm the strength and solidarity of the Mohawks. It may seem irresponsible for children to be placed at the center of a volatile situation however, Kanehtiisota strongly affirms that for the Kanawake mothers, it was important that their children not be hidden from the legacy of violence that has plagued the Mohawk people. Abekani filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin was able to document the seventy-eight day standoff between the Mohawks, the Quebec National Police (SQ, Sûreté du Québec) and the Canadian army. The constant cross-border travel and work further confused Mohawk national belonging in the eyes of the media. She also interviews people of Chateauguay, Montreal, Peacekeepers and local Chiefs. This certainly had its effect on the spin that the Canadian media would take in representing the Warrior as Un-Indian, distinctly non-Canadian and certainly not Québécois. Lewis posits that Obomsawin has 1) focused her lens towards challenging the formation of public memory and history, 2) on the place of Mohawk women in Kanehsatake, Kahnawake and Oka, 3) on the political and cultural resilience of the Mohawk people looking specifically at cultural creativity and daily life, 4) and finally to expose the systematic oppression and the entrenched racism in government policy (79-80). Directed by Alanis Obomsawin. These encroachments of modernization have damaged and changed the wildlife and clear-cut straight across Mohawk trap lines. She strongly asserts, “Now we resist.” Kanehtiisota begins her story by telling how there are no borders within the Mohawk region. The Quebeçois also already occupying a multivalent position within Canada with a history of oppression and racism that parallels the complex situation of the Mohawk people, who happen to be situated not only under the jurisdiction of Quebec, but also straddling the U.S./Canada border. Utrecht, Holland, November 12, 2017. The angry mob not only pelted rocks at the convoy but shouted insults in French and English yelling, “savages.” Though many of the terrified evacuees could do little more than cover themselves with pillows crouched in the back seats one boy describes looking out the window to see the faces and allow them to see him. By employing this Warrior archetype, Indianness was aligned against modernity and away from Canadian, or Québécois, nationalism positing the Warrior as American. The Mercier Bridge carries over sixty thousand cars to and from Montreal’s suburbs daily. Alanis Obomsawin: The Vision of a Native Filmmaker. The Warrior image disrupted “the assumptions about Canadian fairness to ‘their Indians’ that many continued to hold” (Kalant, 187). In her landmark documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) Obomsawin documented what is often referred to as "the Oka Crisis." In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. I agree with Lewis’ identification of four threads that run across Obomsawin’s work. Drumming, singing and circle dances are presented as thriving aspects of Kahnawake’s Mohawk community in Spudwrench: Kanawake Man. She filmed the … He said events like Oka can happen again in Canada but it's critical that indigenous and non-indigenous people continue to talk to one another. This short documentary by Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of Kahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman arrested after the Oka Crisis' 78-day armed standoff in 1990. 16 minutes (3805 words). Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man lays bare the history of the Mohawk ironworkers who found steady employment doing hard labour, essentially building New York City until the mid 1970s. You must be logged in to post a comment. Volume 14, Issue 3 / March 2010 This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, a high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. As a defender of his people's culture and traditions, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis… This is Alanis Obomsawin's most recent film documenting the Oka crisis (1990)in Quebec. This issue is central in Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance and the other films. I will discuss these four films focusing on Obomsawin’s representation of the Mohawk men, women and children who were involved in the standoff and the aftermath of the crisis. The Quebec government called in the Canadian Forces and roughly 800 members of the Royal 22e Regiment encircled the Mohawks in the pines with barbed wire. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. He explains, “Whoever was there would see me looking…see a strong face, being strong. She joined the Oka resistance four months into the standoff, bringing her four children with her across the barricades. Food is piled high on the table of a local bar. It is easy to understand in this sense why the Mohawk people of Kahnawake and Kanehsatake felt that the golf course expansion was the last straw in a long history of imposed boundaries framed as invasion. After a peaceful walk out was arranged on the 26th of September, Kanehtiisota was arrested along with 19 other Mohawk women. This statement is of note, as the Oka crisis actually occurred on the south end of the Mercier Bridge in the area known as Kanehsatake and the town of Oka, whereas Kahnawake is situated on the North side of the bridge. "Back then I think we would have acted more unilaterally," he said. The underlying issue being the fact that her Mohawk name would not be recognized in a Canadian court of law. Though the transition was dif… Each film has threads that connect them beyond the scope of the 78 day stand off. One woman states that the Mercier Bridge is a structure that can be seen from any point in the town. Johansen, Bruce E. Life and Death in Mohawk Country. After they refused to obey a court injunction to stand down, a shoot out ensued with provincial police officers and resulted in the death of Cpl. Women Make Movies Contains brief bio and two of her films can be purchased here. The failure of the Meech Lake Accord in 1989 was not the only catalyst that lit the fire of Oka. The swat team failed to show up and the SQ were not equipped to handle a riot. Add a new comment. Lewis, Randolph. Through her creative lens, Alanis Obomsawin gives Indigenous people the chance to share their stories, sheds light on injustices, and calls for redress on issues that impact the health and well-being of children. People of the Pines: The Warriors and the Legacy of Oka. Sitting around it, a group of Montrealers pinch themselves, wondering if they’ve really just watched a musical performance by 85-year-old Alanis Obomsawin. The problems of land disputes, and national belonging are fleshed out in Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man by way of the long history of the Mohawks working state side as ironworkers for several generations. We have to give thanks to the trees, they are not just standing in the way of a golf course.” She explains how Oka was representative of all Indian people who have witnessed land takeovers for centuries. The Oka Crisis was extensively documented and inspired numerous books and films. York, Geoffrey and Loreen Pindera. I found one thread to be conspicuously absent; the one thread that was not explained to my satisfaction was the role of and representation of the Warrior Society. Alanis Obomsawin, an award-winning filmmaker who made a much-praised documentary about the conflict called "Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance," said the events of 1990 inspired indigenous people across the country and raised awareness among Canadians regarding land claims. In one scene it is explained that the song that is being sung was composed of verses collected through travels across the country, by which the Mohawks reached out for solidarity from other bands and clans. Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance. The women and the men repeat across all four films the importance of the land, and their duty to protect it. Marcel Lemay on July 11. To compound the problem, the local French language radio enticed people to gather and riot. In a similar sense there is no Mohawk word for Warrior. Rather –like the threads that weave together– no one single thread is less or more important that another. Rather, struggle and resistance has been the long suffered history of the Mohawk people since Columbus arrived centuries ago. The montage sequence in Spudwrench is edited over a folk song sung in Mohawk by a woman. Alanis said these words in the short the film I made about her, called Dream Magic (2008). Twenty-five years after … In doing so Obomsawin affords a voice to not only the Mohawk’s side of the story but disentangles entrenched gendered stereotypes revolving around Warrior Society, and the resistance at Oka. Alanis Obomsawin | Oka Crisis | Rocks at Whiskey Trench. Tom Siddon, federal minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development at the time under Brian Mulroney, said he believes Oka played a key role in improving the thorny issue of land claims. In both My Name is Kanehtiisota and Rocks at Whiskey Trench, Obomsawin allows the children to speak for themselves, often expressing through tears the fear they faced on August 28th during the supposed evacuation. Where the bullet came from remains a mystery. Golden: North American Press, 1993. She was detained 4 days longer than the other women. Like Spudwrench, Kanehtiisota’s story is woven into Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Obomsawin expanded on these stories as a way to redress the incident and to flesh out the stories of the people directly involved. The many ironworkers who speak about their life’s work repeat words such as “risk,” “pride,” and “honor.” The men and women speak of the impact the long-distance work had on family and community life. Many of the women in My Name is Kanehtiisota describe the Mohawks belief in maintaining a concern for the future generations. Perhaps out of my own ignorance I was surprised to see, not some unmarked burial ground, but a cemetery amidst the pines, with graves marked by iron bars in the form of a cross. The ironworkers, including Randy “Spudwrench” Horne tell their own story of their involvement building the Mercier Bridge that led to steady, but hard, work for a good portion of the twentieth century. In fact, 1989 was a volatile year that sullied the Mohawk image in the public eye during a course of pro and anti-gambling and smuggling situations involving Warrior Society and the American government. She was there with her camera, and with army helicopters and madness swirling all around, she was an apparition of hope. Language is framed as explicitly tied to the plight of Indian sovereignty. In Spudwrench the importance is reframed in a poignant montage showing the photos and names of passed over Kahnawake ironworkers who rest in the Kanehsatake burial grounds amidst the pines. Johansen explains how the creation of Akwesasne, Mohawk reservation land that straddles the Quebec/Canada/U.S. The Oka Crisis was extensively documented and inspired numerous books and films. The footage is raw, candid and jarring. Serge Simon said it has taken a generation for people to overcome the trauma of the crisis and band council politics have only recently started to calm down after years of tension and sometimes violence between community members. National Identity and the Conflict at Oka: Native Belonging and Myths of Postcolonial Nationhood in Canada. In fact, Obomsawin shows there is little schism between the Mohawks of Kahnawake and the Warrior Society, without conflating both groups positioning them as violent, dangerous rebels. Kahnesatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993, NFB) Everything you want to know about the events of … Write your comment here Cancel reply. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. In this sense Obomsawin neither disentangles the Warrior Society and the mainstream media’s representation of the Warrior, nor conflates the Mohawk people with the Warrior Society. The resilience and adaptability of the Mohawk people as well as the importance of family and the role of the women are indeed threads that run through Obomsawin’s work. Arts & Culture; by Daniel J. Rowe - June 29, 2018 September 14, 2018. Alanis Obomsawin, CC GOQ (born August 31, 1932) is an American Canadian Abenaki filmmaker, singer, artist and activist primarily known for her documentary films. For example, Kalant explains how The Gazette, the English language daily newspaper in Montreal, reinforced the “hyper-masculinity of the Warrior’s abusive power” by feminizing the victimized community when it was noted that the Warrior guns happened to be the same type as that used by Marc Lepine of the 1989 Montreal Massacre at the École PolyTechnique (195). Her father was a guide and a medicine maker, and her mother ran a boarding house. It looks at the crisis from the inside – from the Indigenous point of view. Rocks at Whiskey Trench expands on the Oka crisis by interrogating the axis of racism and hatred between Quebec and the ROC (rest of Canada), making Canadian sympathy with the Mohawks a betrayal of sorts in the eyes of the Quebeçois pitted against the Mohawks. Obomsawin has effectively presented a series of documentaries in which the Mohawk people themselves are afforded a voice—no longer silenced—to tell their story, that has been displaced, erased and negated by homogenous Canadian and Québécois history. Web Resources. Obomsawin has been quoted as saying “In our language there is no word for he or she” (Lewis, 70). They inform and inspire, build community, and empower others to stand up for what they know Home-School Activities from NFB Education (Week 13) NFB Education celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Day with a selection of films perfect for the entire family. A member of the Abenaki Nation, Obomsawin, whose last name means “pathfinder,” returned with her family to the Odanak reserve near Sorel, Quebec, when she was six months old. This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, a high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. The first installment Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) focuses on the crisis as it unfolded in front of Obomsawin’s cameras. It was a crisis that grabbed international headlines, with Mohawks and Canadian soldiers involved in a lengthy stand-off that often appeared on the verge of exploding into full-blown combat. Sept 2002. On October 2nd, Kanehtiisota is released after her lawyer produces her birth certificate to the St. Jerome’s court judge. Using panning shots of Kahnawake’s skyline Obomsawin is able to open up a space of juxtaposition, from imposition of ever expanding industry that has encroached, or invaded, upon reserve land with the quiet community of the Mohawks who actively work to recover tradition, culture, language and family life. border resulted in 3 Indian councils (Akwesasne, Kahnawake and Kanehsatake) vying for power over eight thousand people on 28,000 acres of heavily polluted land astride the Saint Lawrence (ix). Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the film won 18 Canadian and international awards, including the Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association and the CITY TV Award for Best Canadian Feature … Obomsawin discredits the violent masculinist stereotype of the Warrior by making the issue a moot point. In My Name is Kanehtiisota, Kanehtiisota herself states, “the pines, they are our grandfathers. Crisis at Oka was only one of many ongoing land disputes. The issue of language is present in many forms, while My Name is Kanehtiisota focuses on Kanehtiisota’s fight to have her Mohawk name recognized by a Canadian court of law. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1992. The title alone presents Oka as the boiling point amidst three centuries of land disputes. documentary   quebec cinema, Werner Herzog Between Documentary and Fiction, The 12th Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (BAFICI), Being There: The 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Hilda Nicholas (left) said she was honoured to translate legendary documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin’s seminal documentary, though the material was emotional to get through at times. Obomsawin traces the role of the ironworker and the impact of steady work for the Kanawake men and their families. by Lindsey Campbell Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has made documentaries about the Oka Crisis, including Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) and Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000). Furthermore, the physical location and implications of the blockades are expanded upon in the documentary Rocks at Whiskey Trench that I will discuss further along. However, I find that there are more than four threads and it seems Obomsawin has carefully woven the threads together. Alanis Obomsawin's four NFB films about the 1990 Oka Crisis stand as a definitive, dramatic and disturbing documentation of an essential chapter in Canadian history. Whereas, the Warrior image was easily aligned with what Canadians also wanted to believe about Indians, the Warrior problematically provided the Canadian government with a stereotype that was readily employed to render the entire crisis “illegitimate” (Kalant, 187). As its title implies, Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance is about much more than the Oka Crisis. Obomsawin unapologetically presents the SQ and the Canadian army as gravely ill-equipped to handle the resistance. The men and women arrested were transported to a Canadian army base south of Montreal where they were charged and detained over night. Oka Crisis documentary screened in Kanien’kéha. Beyond the encroachment of ongoing modernization, the crisis led to numerous checkpoints, and 10 roadblocks erected by the police and army, including two boats patrolling the Ottawa River in early July 1990. One woman states, “Kahnawake, that’s the only thing we have left, we’ll never give it up.” Kanehtiisota, herself, explains the importance of the pines, where the golf course was due to expand through a series of voice-overs and using direct address. Kanehtiisota is the mother of two children and a resident of Kanawake. "The common lands had slowly been given away and sold and there came a point where people weren't going to take it anymore.". During the crisis at Oka the media were allowed to spin the ironworkers into a militant American Indian faction completely divorced from the Mohawks of Kahnawake. She explains the significance of a sacred resting place for the Mohawk people by saying that the ancestors cannot rest peacefully until they are protected from further invasion. Synopsis. rose up in defence of what they said was their land. Obomsawin does not set up the two different perspectives on the burial grounds in opposition. Back home, Quebec Aboriginal Affairs Minister Geoffrey Kelley said provincial and federal governments have appreciated since Oka that First Nations groups need to be consulted when development projects affect their territory. In no way does Obomsawin pursue one Mohawks perspective as more important or accurate. The issue of the cemetery is expanded upon in Spudwrech, though Kanehtiisota also mentions the importance of the cemetery and how development would have meant digging up the cemetery. One startling effective shot in My Name is Kahentiisota frames the narrow space between two Kanawake homes capturing a barge as it passes along the seaway cutting across the landscape and blocking the view of the water. “Alanis Obomsawin” on Senses of Cinema. The words of the song are not translated, allowing the issue of language to surface in a subtle but striking manner. The names and dates on the each memorial were recognizable and tied to the people of Kanawake who have spoken about their history as ironworkers. "I think we were able to make some major progress and I do believe that Oka was an important turning point in our natural history," he said in an interview. Furthermore, the Mohawk connection to the land and the past and future generations is another thread across these four films. These and two additional documentaries on the crisis were all produced by the National Film Board of Canada: Christine Welsh directed Keepers of the Fire (1994), which documents the role of Mohawk women during the crisis, and Alec MacLeod created … Kelley mentioned provincial funding for the Kateri Memorial hospital on the Kahnawake reserve south of Montreal — which he said required several bureaucratic hurdles to overcome such as modifications to labour laws — as an example of a change in government attitude toward Indigenous Peoples. My Name is Kanehtiisota focuses attention on the Mohawks commitment to Mother Earth and Mohawk culture through Kanehtiisota’s story. It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. The current grand chief in Kanesatake says that while the Mohawk Warriors might have inspired people around the world, the aftermath of the crisis led to the "social disintegration of the community.". But while indigenous people have received more respect from non-indigenous governments since Oka, there are many outstanding land claims across the country, and some Canadians still harbour prejudices against Aboriginal Peoples, Kelley said. Her time on the reserve was idyllic; she delivered her aunt’s homemade bread and sang with abandon in her aunt’s rocking chair. This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, a high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. The barricades were put up in order to prevent the development of condominiums and the expansion of nine more holes to the local golf course on reservation land, including development through the Mohawk’s sacred pines and cemetery. Obomsawin’s ability to recover Mohawk history specific to Kanawake makes for an interesting case study in the Mohawk community’s marginalization, their long history of colonial oppression and on-going land disputes. Kalant explains that racism similar to that exhibited at the Mercier Bridge could be found throughout Canada and was not particular to Quebec (188). Rather she reveals how complex the issue is by allowing layers of meaning to surface in dialogue with each other. By putting names and faces to shots of graves the burial ground becomes less of an ideological problem and more of a material concern. This film is the fourth in Alanis Obomsawin’s landmark series on the Mohawk resistance at Oka that would become a pivot point in contemporary relationships between Indigenous nations and Canada. "They pulled his pants down and they started electrocuting his testicles to get him to talk.". Taking this concept into account, it is easy to consider Obomsawin’s four Oka films as one film expanding outward and simultaneously bringing all the elements, perspectives, people and history together, as One. In response to the council's decision, Mohawks barricaded a dirt road leading to the golf course. Within all of Obomsawin’s four Oka films, Warrior Society is represented in such a way as to dispel many myths about the Mohawk people and their connection to Warrior Society. Offering a unique look behind the barricades at one man's … Williams, Paul. "When I go out West, [aboriginal] people tell me, 'Alanis, we could never thank the Mohawks enough for what they did."'. Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has made documentaries about the Oka Crisis, including Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993) and Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000). Her films generate discussion, and create space for learning and healing. Kalant, Amelia. 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