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In the summer of 1990, a resistance occurred in Kanesatake, Quebec. Nearby is a town called Oka. This event has many names – the Oka Crisis, the Kanesatake Resistance, and the Mohawk Resistance. The main participants were Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk) protesters, the Quebec police, the RCMP, and the Canadian Army. It started when members of the Kanyen'kehà:ka community started protesting the expansion of a golf course and the building of townhouses. An Indigenous burial ground was on this land. The situation quickly became violent. One police officer was killed. He was a corporal in the Sûreté du Quebec. After this, the Canadian Army went to Kanesatake. The expansion ultimately was stopped. The federal government bought the disputed land. The resistance ended in late September. However, the land was not transferred to the Kanyen'kehà:ka. The resistance had lasting repercussions.

This article is a plain-language summary of Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis). If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis).

The Crown Grant to the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, also known as Treaty 3½ or the Simcoe Deed, was issued in 1793. (See also Haudenosaunee and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.) Ten years earlier, the Crawford Purchase had acquired a large piece of territory. The British granted a small portion of this purchase to the Mohawks in recognition of their support to the Crown during the American Revolution. Gradually, the Crown grant was reduced due to encroachment by non-Indigenous settlers. The ownership of the land is still being contested. (See also Treaties with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Upper Canada Land Surrenders.)

The Kanesatake Resistance, also known as the Oka Crisis or the Mohawk Resistance at Kanesatake, was a 78-day standoff (11 July–26 September 1990) between Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk) protesters, Quebec police, the RCMP and the Canadian Army. It took place in the community of Kanesatake, near the Town of Oka, on the north shore of Montreal. Related protests and violence occurred in the Kahnawake reserve, to the south of Montreal. The crisis was sparked by the proposed expansion of a golf course and the development of townhouses on disputed land in Kanesatake that included a Kanyen'kehà:ka burial ground. Tensions were high, particularly after the death of Corporal Marcel Lemay, a Sûreté du Québec police officer. Eventually, the army was called in and the protest ended. The golf course expansion was cancelled, and the land was purchased by the federal government. However, it did not establish the land as a reserve, and there has since been no organized transfer of the land to the Mohawks of Kanesatake.

This is the full-length entry about Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis). For a plain-language summary, please see Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis)(Plain-Language Summary).

The Iroquois Wars, also known as the Beaver Wars and the French and Iroquois Wars, were a series of 17th-century conflicts involving the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also known as the Iroquois or Five Nations, then including the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca), numerous other First Nations, and French colonial forces. The origins of the wars lay in the competitive fur trade. In about 1640, the Haudenosaunee began a campaign to increase their territorial holdings and access to animals like beaver and deer. Hostilities continued until 1701, when the Haudenosaunee agreed to a peace treaty with the French. The wars represent the intense struggle for control over resources in the early colonial period and resulted in the permanent dispersal or destruction of several First Nations in the Eastern Woodlands.

Canada is a country so vast that too often, it seems, its history is lost inside its geography. A striking example is the history of Indigenous peoples, whose long, rich narrative is well-preserved by them, but seldom gets the same attention on a broader scale — even when their stories affect us all.

Six Nations of the Grand River in Southern Ontario is the largest reserve community by population in Canada. It is the location for one of Canada’s largest cultural revitalization movements. During the mid-20th century, artist Elda “Bun” Smith began collecting pottery shards that she found throughout Six Nations. With the assistance of potter Tessa Kidick, Smith and other local potters helped to revitalise pottery on Six Nations. They influenced future generations of artists. Six Nations pottery is now one of the most collected ceramics in Canada. It features in gallery and museum collections around the world.

Underlying the move toward the establishment of an independent or quasi-independent Indigenous justice system is a recognition that there are certain values and customs historically attached to Indigenous communities. In addition, the concept of an independent justice system is viewed as being consonant with the notion of the inherent right of Indigenous self-government.

On 4 August 1701, the French concluded a peace agreement with the Five Nations Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). This brought to an end almost a century of hostilities marked by atrocities on both sides. The Haudenosaunee were permitted to trade freely and to obtain goods from the French at a reduced cost. In exchange, they pledged to allow French settlement at Detroit and to remain neutral in the event of a war between England and France. The accord assured New France superiority in dealing with issues related to the region’s First Nations. It also gave the French the freedom to expand militarily over the next half century.

​Lacrosse, the Creator’s Game, is known to various First Nations in North America by many different names, including baggataway (Algonquian), kabocha-toli (Choctaw) and tewaarathon (Mohawk).

Lacrosse is one of the oldest organized sports in North America. While at one point it was a field game or ritual played by First Nations, it became popular among non-Indigenous peoples in the mid-1800s. When the National Lacrosse Association of Canada was formed in 1867, it was the Dominion of Canada’s first governing body of sport. Lacrosse was confirmed as Canada’s official summer sport in 1994. The Canadian national lacrosse teams (men and women) rank highly in the world standings, both in field and box lacrosse.

The Battle of Beaver Dams took place during the War of 1812. On 24 June 1813, American troops marched from Fort George and intended to surprise the British at Beaver Dams. Laura Secord, a woman living in Queenston where the Americans had temporarily lodged, learned about this plan, and set off on a journey to warn the British. When the Americans resumed their trek to Beaver Dams, they were ambushed by Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk) and other Indigenous warriors. The Americans lost the battle, surrendering to British troops led by Lieutenant James FitzGibbon (also spelled Fitzgibbon). The Battle of Beaver Dams established the importance of professional soldiering, Indigenous warfare and luck involved in British victory.

The Carignan-Salières Regiment was a regiment of French troops who were sent to New France from 1665 to 1667 to fight the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). These professional soldiers, who had little experience with fighting in the woods, invaded the lands of the Haudenosaunee but did not succeed in defeating them. Nevertheless, the French show of force led to a peace accord in 1667. Though most of the French soldiers then went home, some stayed, married and settled in New France. Many of them married Filles du Roy and now have many descendants. Quebec municipalities such as Berthier, Chambly and Verchères still bear the names of officers of this regiment.

The Crawford Purchase of 1783 is one of the oldest land agreements between British authorities and Indigenous peoples in Upper Canada (later Ontario). It resulted in a large tract of territory along the north shore of the upper St. Lawrence River and the eastern end of Lake Ontario being opened for settlement by displaced Loyalists and Indigenous peoples who fought for and supported Britain during the American Revolution. The Crawford Purchase is one of many agreements made during the late 18th and 19th centuries, known collectively as the Upper Canada Land Surrenders. (See also Treaties with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Before a national program of designating historic places was developed, the Government of Canada erected a monument commemorating the Battle of Crysler's Farm on the battlefield in 1895.

In 1976, the cairn was moved to the newly created Battle of Beaverdams Park in Thorold. Also moved to the park was a stone monument, erected in 1874, marking the grave of 16 American soldiers found during the construction of the third Welland Canal.

The Covenant Chain is the name given to the complex system of alliances between the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Six Nations and Iroquois League) and Anglo-American colonies originating in the early 17th century. The first alliances were most likely between New York and the Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk). These early agreements were referred to figuratively as chains because they bound multiple parties together in alliance. Today the Covenant Chain represents the long tradition of diplomatic relations in North America, and is often invoked when discussing contemporary affairs between the state and Indigenous peoples. (See also Treaties with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Jay’s Treaty was signed on 19 November 1794 by representatives of United States and Britain. The treaty is the product of trade and border negotiations. It is known for the provision that allows Indigenous people from Canada to live and work freely in the United States. The Canadian federal government does not recognize the reciprocal provision as binding. (See also Treaties with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Historically, the cradleboard (or cradle board), was used by various Indigenous peoples to protect and carry babies. Securely bound to a thin rectangular board, a baby could be carried on its mother's back or put in a safe location while she performed her daily routine. In some communities, Indigenous peoples still use cradleboards.

At their root, Indigenous feminisms examine how gender and conceptions of gender influence the lives of Indigenous peoples, historically and today. Indigenous feminist approaches challenge stereotypes about Indigenous peoples, gender and sexuality, for instance, as they appear in politics, society and the media. Indigenous feminisms offer frameworks for learning about and understanding these, and other issues, regardless of one’s gender or ethnicity.