Peace and Environment News* February 1992
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Peace and Environment News * February 1992 |
People of the Pines: The warriors and the legacy of Oka
By Geoffrey York and Loreen Pindera Little, Brown & Company (Canada), Toronto, 1991
Reviewed by Stephanie O'Hanley
Of all books on the Oka crisis of summer 1990, by far the most anticipated was People of the Pines. Globe and Mail reporter Geoffrey York is well-known for The Dispossessed, a critically acclaimed book documenting the plight of Indians in Canada. Loreen Pindera, a reporter with the CBC Radio's Montreal bureau, also has extensive experience covering native issues.
People of the Pines tells the story of the Mohawks who stood up to governments, police, the Canadian army, and others to defend their land when the Municipality of Oka tried to turn it into an extension of a golf course. Written in a gripping, readable style, it sheds light on the Warrior society, giving a human face to the people behind the masks. Through description and profile the reader experiences the Mohawks' fighting spirit, feelings, fears, hopes, anger and strong spirituality throughout the seventy-eight day standoff. There's some new information, and a few myths are dispelled. It also shows that while the crisis started as a land claim issue, divisions emerged as it wore on, until all but a militant few were left in the end.
The book clearly demonstrates that the roots of the crisis lie in a long history of tensions as Kanesatake Mohawks have seen their land, bit by bit, taken away from them. Picking up guns was a last resort for Mohawks who have spent 270 years fighting the encroachment of Sulpician priests, the Oka municipality, various police forces and non-natives in general. Constant appeals and petitions to governments, courts, even to the king of England went nowhere. The book also notes the tremendous impact the crisis had on other native groups equally frustrated with the slow pace of the land claims process. It goes on to point out the resurgence of aboriginal pride and defiance that resulted.
Those not familiar with the crisis might find the book a little confusing and complicated. There is a lot of information and a bit of repetition from chapter to chapter. The Mohawk community is deeply divided. There are conflicting ideas of who a warrior is just as there are differing ideas of Mohawk sovereignty. As players from different Mohawk communities and other parts of Canada emerge, events are sometimes hard to follow. Fortunately an index at the front lets the reader check who everyone is.
The history provided is military, focusing on a long warrior tradition and on how time after time warriors have outwitted their enemies through the use of psychological tactics. Unfortunately this perspective ignores other aspects of Mohawk society. The story is a play-by-play account and not much analysis is provided. The Mohawks' opponents are not given much say. The history of the Quebec government's dealings with natives, the lack of federal involvement in the crisis, and the reasons negotiations failed are not completely explained. Nor do we really know why Chateauguay residents were so hostile towards Mohawks or why Quebec and Canadian governments risked their international reputations by allowing human rights to be violated.
But the authors may be forgiven for not including the whole account. There was not enough space to explain this enormously complex issue. Even today the land issue that sparked the crisis has not been resolved. Soon forty Mohawks facing charges related to the crisis will go to court. People of the Pines leaves the reader sympathetic, if not angry for the Mohawks of Kanesatake.
Converted August 12, 2001 - Lg
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