Mohawks can hold their heads high

Page 4

Just as the search for a peaceful resolution to the standoffs in Quebec appeared to have failed, Mohawk and Canadian soldiers began dismantling barricades at Chateauguay and Kahnawake.

They put aside their weapons and took up bulldozers.

What a sight!

But then if the Berlin Wall could come down in Eastern Europe, anything was possible.

But we came so close, oh so close, to a shoot-out before negotiation between Canadian and Mohawk soldiers and Canadian and Mohawk leaders got us off that slippery slope.

The smoke is still clearing in Quebec. The blockades are down on the south shore of the St. Lawrenc, tensions have eased and tie situation at Oka also promises to be peaceably resolved.

It need not have come to this if Quebec and Canadian negotiators had not broken off talks with Kanesatake Mohawks at Oka. Nor should the Surete du Quebec have assaulted the Kanesatake blockade July 11, which took Cpl. Marcel Lemay's life.

It could have been avoided if provincial and federal governments of Quebec had respected the rights of Indian people to govern their own lives and to have their grievances addressed.

Now after having spent many millions of dollars on policing and opening many wounds in an attempt to get Indian people to buckle under, those governments appear to have finally come around.

Mohawks can walk away from this dispute with their heads held high, knowing they are now on the road they want to walk on.

They can also hold their heads high for the wisdom, understanding and great degree of patience they demonstrated under incredible pressure.

They did not brutalize or attack non-Native people. Nor did they yield to intense provocation to get them to fire the first shot.

Would that we could say the same about the angry francophones of Quebec, who frustrated at the delays in getting to work, took those frustrations out on Native people many, many times.

If Mohawks and other Native people had shown the same degree of impatience, this country would have been plunged into civil war many years ago.

The behavior of many people in this crisis has been inexcusable, namely Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Premier Robert Bourassa and Indian Affairs' Minister Tom Siddon.

They backed the decision to send in Canadian troops to 'get the Indians' while standing by and letting white francophones and police brutalize Mohawks.

They should make a quick exit from the Canadian stage to make way for leaders, who will deal in good faith with the Native people of this country.

Native people have made it clear they aren't going anywhere. This is it. The time to make a stand for treaty, legal and constitutional rights in British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, Quebec, Ontario...is now.

This country can't survive, needlessly and irresponsibly stumbling from crisis to crisis.

Nor should Native people be expected to endure that.

Mulroney has shown he doesn't have the wisdom, the knowledge and the understanding to meet with aboriginal people at numerous places like Lubicon Lake, brocket, Pic Mobert and Siksika.

He failed to understand the depth of feeling and unity the Mohawk Indians of Quebec generated in the Indian country.

His attempts to smear the Mohawk Warriors and to convince Canadians they were bandits and criminals enjoyed some success with non-Native Canadians, especially in Quebec.

But it angered aboriginal people, who rallied to support the Mohawks.

Siddon, who heads a department, which is supposed to safeguard the constitutional interests of aboriginal people, also failed miserably during the Quebec crisis.

He was not only content to let the Quebec government call the shots and to terrorize Native people, but wrapped in the flag of 'law and order' he slammed Mohawk Indians, who were determined to defend their land.

So. while Natives and their non-Native supporters look to the future with a measured degree of optimism, there is cause for concern.

But the course has been set and Native people can now march boldlyinto the future, more confident now because of Quebec's Mohawks that they are going in the direction of their dreams.