Cowboys and Indians

Page 4

Quebec provincial police and the citizens of Oka, Quebec now know only too well they picked a fight with the wrong people when they decided to tangle with the Mohawk Indians of Kanesatake reserve.

And Canadians have reflected day in and day out on the total, utter stupidity of that decision.

The police, who clearly watched at least one too many Rambo movies could teach Sylvester Stallone a lesson or two.

The violent assault by police on behalf of Oka town council, which felt it desperately needed to add nine holes to its golf course - and damn the Indians - is up there as one of the most violent, asinine attacks in modern history against Canada's aboriginal people.

Sadly an officer died in the assault.

It could have been much, much worse and may yet be.

A very sad chapter in relations between the dominant society and Canada's Natives is unfolding at Oka.

The supreme irony is that this franophone province which wants - no demands - to be recognized as distinct, is so contemptuous of First Nations.

The popular Robert Bourassa, who thumbed his nose at Canada's aboriginal people after the death of the Meech Lake accord, has no respect for the Natives of Quebec or Canada.

He believes in power.

It' no surprise the police assault occurred in the province of Bourassa, who has been so insensitive to Canadian Natives, especially those in the James Bay area of Quebec, who dare to stand in the way of hydroelectric development to protect their way of life.

But the list of guilty politicians and people in the Oka episode is lengthy and also includes Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Oka Mayor Jean Ouellette, Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon and the police.

They will rue the day they were blind to the aspirations of the Kanesatake Mohawks and Canada's aboriginal people.

After Oka there's not turning back.

The die has been cast.

The message is clear: If Canadian politicians will not peaceably address Native concerns, confrontation is inevitable.

Native people will no longer be cowed.

In a letter from his Birmingham, Alabama jail cell in the early 1960s Martin Luther King Jr. made some observations about injustice. "For years now I have heard the word 'Wait.'...This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never.' We must come to see...that justice too long delayed is justice denied. When you are fighting a degeneration sense of 'nobodiness' - then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.

"There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience."