Indigenous sovereignty stood at the forefront of political life in Oka, Quebec in the summer of 1990 when the Mohawk Nation was forced to stand their ground and protect their sacred land from being absorbed into a land development project.
Pressure quickly escalates, and any chance of a peaceful resolution soon disappears, after land claimed by the Mohawk people is encroached upon and becomes threatened. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
As negotiations continue to falter, the army and the Surete du Quebec take over command of the crisis and proceed to cordon off Kanehsatake and Kahnawake to squeeze the Mohawk people into submission, thus beginning a war of attrition.
