Eurkdesigns

On July 11, 1990, Mohawks in Kanesatake resisted an assault by heavily armed Quebec provincial police to remove a blockade that was established to stop the proposed expansion of the Oka golf course and a condominium project. During a brief fire-fight, one cop was shot and killed (although to this day it is unclear who shot him). In nearby Kahnawake, the Mercier Bridge was seized in solidarity. Thereafter began a 78 day siege involving thousands of police and some 4,500 soldiers from the Canadian military. The “Oka Crisis” inspired widespread solidarity actions by Indigenous peoples across the country, including road and railway blockades, occupations of government offices, and sabotage of railway bridges and electrical transmission lines. The Oka Crisis served to re-awaken the warrior spirit of Indigenous peoples, inspiring acts of resistance and setting the tone for Indigenous resistance throughout the 1990s, and to this day.

The Mohawks didn’t care about weapon bans before, and they certainly won’t now.