Entry written by Jacklyn, Serena, and Philippe
Introduction
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993,119 min 15s, Canada) is
a film about a native community’s struggle with rights to their land. Directed
by Alanis Obomsawin, this film brings light on the issues that many native
communities struggle with throughout our country. The film documents the Oka
crisis that occurred in 1990 where a Mohawk community fought for the land that
the town of Oka attempted to claim for developmental plans where the Mohawks
pines and burial grounds were located. Before the Oka crisis occurred, the
Mohawk community attempted to legally claim the pines and the graveyard but the
town refused. Which explains how the town of Oka was able to expand the golf
course in the first place. There was also no democracy involved in making
the decision to invade the pines and the Mohawks had no say in the choices
made. There was no answers or explanations given from the mayor of Oka and he
was not open to hearing what the Mohawks had to say. Obviously, this way of
governing a town is not subsequent to the idea of democracy. It is very hard to
say, in light of the issue, that people (mainly the town council) are viewing
the Native community as equals.
The film shows mainly the native community’s
experience with slight glimpses at the town councils, the media’s and the
military’s perspectives. Alanis Obomsawin narrates the film and follows the native
community while capturing their opinions and emotional responses throughout the
crisis . We see shocking scenes in the film like the Canadian military and the
Mohawk’s men being forceful and intimidating towards one another. One can see
great opposition between the two especially when the Mohawks blockade the
bridge and the pines. The most shocking scenes are seeing the harm that this dispute
caused to the community. We see children and women being aggressively handled by
the SQ, as well as seeing a middle aged man suffer such serious physical harm from
military soldiers that he’s rushed to the hospital. The film also shows home
owners of the town being detained by police officers due to speaking out about
the unjust decisions they are faced with. The film shows a very subjective view
towards the indigenous people by making the authoritative figures (military
commanders and SQ officers) seem ignorant and impractical. This film documents
many signs of discrimination towards the Mohawk community by the military and
SQ forces, such as having no rights to contact a lawyer, not allowing them to
have access to medication unless they surrender and by damaging the Mohawks
food that is delivered by the military. All of these scenes allow the audience
to further comprehend how unfair it is for the native community to have to go
to such extremes to have their rights protected and even in these extremes,
they are not treated as equals regardless.
The movement resulted in many Mohawks being detained
by the SQ and with the town of Oka dropping the golf course expansion. This
rebellion was one of the most publicized First Nations disputes to occur in the
20th century. Thus sparking many other native communities to end this “270
years of resistance”. Meaning it influenced other first nation communities to
take a stand and give themselves a voice. One
can say that governments throughout history have viewed native people with much
ethnocentricity, meaning they have viewed their lives
in terms of their own. This 270 years of resistance refers to many years of an
attitude towards the indigenous people that included little respect and
understanding of their rights as first nations.
The
People of Kattawapiskak River
In The
People of the Kattawapiskak River (Alanis Obomsawin 2012, 78 min Canada), the
community reached out to the government because many were living in tents,
trailer and temporary shelters (for example sheds). Attempts to get assistance
in their community were dismissed by the governments and these attempts go as
far back as 2007. By 2011, the First Nations chief Theresa Spence had already
called three times Kattawapiskak as in a state of emergency. It is only in 2012
that new trailers were rushed to the community and needs were beginning to be
met. The time it took for the federal government only further proves the
discrimination that the Native community is still facing, even on a legal
level. It is devastating to see how long the government took to handle the
housing crisis up North. Furthermore, the First Nation’s community was
criticized for spending a large sum of money on a new Zamboni. To many youth,
the local arena was a safe refuge both emotionally and physically. In The People of
Kattawapiskak, the criticism about buying a new Zamboni was not justified
in this situation. In fact, the high suicide rates in the First Nation
communities are just as important to resolve and consider as the poor living
conditions.
The most touching parts of the documentary are the interviews where Ms.
Obomsawin reaches out to the people of the community. Through these individual
stories, we are made aware of the crisis on a very up close and personal level.
Ms. Obomsawin films them in their homes doing simple everyday activities such
as taking care of their children. As a member of the First Nations community,
Ms. Obomsawin was able to create a bridge of trust and sincerity between herself
those she was interviewing. Thus she was
able to share with us true and first-hand experiences of what happened during
the housing crisis. One of the
interviewee’s houses looked to be in third world conditions; unequipped to
handle the sub-arctic weather of northern Ontario. In some instances it was seen that over 90
people were staying in one mobile trailer with only few bathrooms. These trailers were hand-me downs from a
neighboring industrial plant. This
trailer was not even the worst of its kind; there were some homes with holes in
the floors and ceilings. The community
was not receiving proper housing seeing that the government sent in quick
fixes, with mobile homes. Do to the arctic weather, these homes could not
withstand freezing and defrosting and were literally falling apart at the
seams.
When Alanis Obomsawim spoke, everybody
listened. It is amazing to think that despite her easygoing and level tone, she
projected so much passion about what she was talking about. Ms. Obomsawin told
of her travels to various Native reserves and how they are always happy and
willing to see and speak with her. Essentially she brings their stories and
struggles to the general public’s attention. It is really interesting to note
that she said that the best way we could help the cause was to write letters to
the government. By saying this, it reinforces the fact that the situation the
Native community faced and is still facing is extremely serious; serious enough
that the only way to make a difference is to appeal to the government.
Le Peuple Invisible
Le Peuple
Invisible, directed
by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie (2007, 93 min 19 sec, Canada) is a documentary
that explains how Algonquians have been treated since the beginning of their
colonization. In the beginning, the First Nations were allied with the French
colonists. Iroquoians were allied with English colonists from New York. Between
these two big clans, there was a total war zone for the control of the fur
trade. The English were greater in number than the French and consequently won
the war. The British King decided to split the colony into three regions: the
first one being the English colonies, the second one was the colony of Quebec
and the last one was the Natives’ territory. No one was allowed to cross into
the Natives’ territory, unless the person who wished to go through it had been
granted special permission from the authorities. However, after a couple of
years, the King decided to take the Natives and put them all together, thus,
the first reserves were established. At this time, they did not know that they
lived in a new country, Canada. Their lands was property of the province of
Quebec, as well as the property of federal government. Every time they tried to
extend their territory, the government refused. The province of Quebec reduced
the territory allotted for the reserves numerous times. The First Nations were
treated like animals; they were not given the rights to do anything on the land
unless the government approved it. It remained that way until today.
The First Nations are still living
in small reserves such as Kanawhake and Kanehsatake.
Their life conditions are horrible. In some reserves they do not have running
water. Instead they have to take use a boiler and go to the river if they want
to drink and wash themselves. In Grand
Lac Victoria's reserve, the
community is very little and isolated. 90% of children living in this village
are cousins because they are so few people who immigrate to these places,
therefore there isn’t any new blood in the village, and they simply marry each
other. The community does not know how long they will be able to live like this
because of the consanguinity in the reserve. Furthermore, 80 % to 85% of people
are living on welfare and 60% of them are the youth of the community. Many
couples have children because they like to continue the tradition of having a
large family. A lot of young men would like to go to Cégep or University but
they do not have enough money to pay for their studies, thus they abandon their
ambitions for education and depend on welfare. They know that their prospects
for the future are not bright and it brings down their strive for ambition and
confidence in their lives. They begin to use drugs and alcohol much younger
than Caucasians would on average. In Rapid
Lake's reserve, it is easier to find cocaine, cigarettes and weapons than
flour and it is not the only reserve like this, there are many in similar
situations. All these things lead young people to commit suicide. Half of the
young boys in almost each reserve try at least once to commit suicide because
they feel they do not have any future.
The Canadian government doesn’t
offer assistance for their situation. Each time the First Nations ask for a
subvention, they are refused. Subventions would help to construct decent
schools and create jobs, which would contribute to a healthier development for
the community. People outside the Native community complain when a protest
occurs but what these people do not comprehend is they have really valid
reasons to doing so, because even prisoners are treated much better than they
are.
A Reflection
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, The People of Kattawapiskak
River and Le Peuple Invisible are each proper examples of how a democratic
country that is known for being multicultural and diverse, is not fully abiding
by its own policies which instate freedom and especially equality.
We know from meeting with Alanis Obomsawin, that her goal is to get people's stories heard. She is much more in tuned with the sound, story and voice rather than the image itself. In this short interview, we again get to see and understand how important vocalizing people's perspectives are to Alanis Obomsawin. She speaks about how the National Film Board of Canada allows her to films to be very open and diverse, rather than being limited or having boundaries.
In both documentaries, it became obvious that the First
Nations communities were being discriminated against. In Kanehsatake, the land
clearly belonged to the Natives; in fact it was their burial ground and
therefore already being used. It is terrible to think that the mayor of Oka was
so ignorant as to think that this was not a good enough reason to not use the
land. Currently, years after Europeans have immigrated to North America these
First Nations are still being treated the way they are. Unfortunately, it was
only in the 1980s that they even became recognized as citizens of Canada. It’s unnerving
to think that in a liberated country like Canada we could be taking one-step
forward but two steps back. In The People
of Kattawapiskak, the criticism about buying a new Zamboni was not
justified in this situation. In fact, the high suicide rates in the First
Nation communities are just as important to resolve and consider as the poor
living conditions.
We know from in doing the third assignment that there is a charter
which claims: “by virtue of the principle of equal rights and
self-determination of peoples enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,
all peoples have the right, freely and without external interference, to
determine their political status and to pursue their economic, social and
cultural development, and that every State has the duty to respect that right
in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.” We also know after viewing these films that very little of claims
are being respected. Especially the part of the resolution that states that
every State has the duty to the respect that right in accordance with the
Charter. It truly appears that the Canadian government is doing the complete
polar opposite of what this Resolution demands. I personally feel that these
means are not being met for the native communities because it is easy to ignore
the people who (because of us) have much poverty, mental illnesses and
basically no power. When the government holds and controls the money and our
countries institutions. Luckily, the native communities have tons of integrity,
strength and intelligence to not let this reality of being pushed away go on
any longer.
A Final Thought
As a society, we have the
moral responsibility to keep ourselves informed about social crises and be
aware of what we can do to help. During this specific crisis, Idle No More, a
campaign dedicated to “calling on all people
to join in a revolution which honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which
protects the land and water” was started. It is campaigns like this that will
truly make a difference to social injustices everywhere.
I thought that Alanis Obomsawin made her films really well and that they relly made me feel frustrated for the First Nations people who aren’t being heard. I also thought it was interesting that I had barely heard of these problems that seemed pretty huge considering that they were and are happening so close to us. That really brought home the fact that these people aren’t being heard.
ReplyDeleteKatie Polley
Well done guys, yet I would have liked you guys to include a small video or trailer of the "Peuple Invisible" so we could better understand what happened into the documentary. I have to agree with the previous comment made by Katie, after looking at "Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance" and "The People of the Kattawapiskak River" I was frustrated to see how in Quebec we welcome immigrants coming from other countries yet we can't even accept the humans who welcomed and worked with us for many years. I was also so angry to see how Harper, our and their Prime Minister who is supposed to represent them also is just trying to save his reputation by putting the blame on Chief Theresa. In the small video included in the blog Alanis Obomsawin says that for her words are even more important than the image, yet for me seeing all those people, living with practically nothing is what made me realise that they are humans like us and that we should not accept the way they are being treated, the way the government is not listening to there need and the way the treaty is not being respected.
ReplyDeleteKeven Champigny
Nice blog team. I was very interested in the documentary of kanehsatake, i asked a few people who lived through that time and they told me their personal reflections on it, which was interesting. It did make me think alot about how we treat other people, whether what was done to the people of kanehsatake was right or not.
ReplyDelete-Devin