A film is often viewed as a stand-alone piece of work with no context in which the viewer should understand it. Among the most important and often neglected of these is the political context of a film. Neglecting to provide information regarding the political state in which the film occurs leaves the viewer with a great lack of deeper understanding an appreciation of the film. More importantly than simply providing a context for the film, being politically informative balances the overwhelming majority of mainstream media who unrelentingly report events in an extremely subjective, and decidedly one-sided manor. It takes an extraordinary amount of skill to endow upon a film a political context which allows the viewers to empathize with its subjects and inform of an alternative point of view, while simultaneously maintaining the quality of the production. Alanis Obomsawin executes this difficult task with spectacular skill in her 1993 documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, which chronicles the events of the Oka Crisis – a 77 day long standoff over the prospect of building a golf course expansion onto Mohawk owned lands – in 1992 Quebec. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance presents a subjective account of the Oka Crisis in such a way that allows for a complete understanding of the events while balancing very subjective media reports by providing a political context for the film, done by exposing the history of the events preceding the crisis, chronicling the crisis from behind the Mohawk barricades, and accurately representing the members of the Mohawk nation as family people with a deep wish for peace.
The only information that was available outside of the Pines during the time of the Oka crisis was coming directly from the Canadian government as there was a complete media blackout on the event, with the exception of course of the CBC and its reporters. The beginning of the immediate crisis began in earnest in August of 1989, when up to 100 Mohawk citizens stood in protest of the ground breaking ceremony for the expansion of the Club de Golf d’Oka. Following this protest a group of Mohawk warriors took up permanent residence within the Pines as the tribe deliberated on what course of action to follow in making sure the golf course was not completed. The standoff lasted from July 11 1through to September 26 of 1990, and involved only one “accidental” fatality of a Quebecois police officer. The information given to the public about the crisis was entirely one-sided and depicted the Mohawk people involved as violent and volatile, along with holding them responsible for the fatality which triggered the standoff. Coupled with bias of the government provided news coverage of the Oka crisis was the issue of too little information made available to the public. At the time, and for many years after the events of Kanehsatake the public was vastly undereducated about the Oka crisis as the CBC coverage is a shell of information at best. It is within this atmosphere of Mohawks as the villains, and lack of information about the events and the reasons behind them that occurred in Quebec in 1990 that Obomsawin filmed and shortly after released her film Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance.
One of the most basic yet effective methods of creating a political context for a film is by providing history for the situation. This rings especially true for the history of Oka, which when taught in Canadian schools sides with the settlers and depicts them the victors of history. Kanehsatake opens with a voiceover narration from Obomsawin explaining the events which directly preceded and caused the standoff behind the barricade to begin. Providing information on the events immediately leading up to the crisis gives the basic foundation for the film’s context, allowing for the current historical and concurrent political atmosphere to be understood. Obomsawin goes deeper into the history of the situation further into the film. An animated segment illuminates the history of the Mohawk people in the Oka and Kanehsatake area from the time of European contact. The narration tells of how the Mohawk were peaceful and accepting of the settlers, along with how they were naively trusting of the promises made to them by the French. Inevitably the Mohawk people of the area were stripped of all their lands, and forced to swear allegiance to and fight a war for the French government that they otherwise had no interests invested. “Obomsawin brings to this work a deep understanding of the history of this conflict, showing how the Mohawk people’s use of their own land has been consistently eroded over nearly 300 years”(The Film Reference Library, par. 3). Having a deeper understanding of the history of the area brings to light the knowledge that the political situation in Oka is unstable, as the Mohawk now fully understand that the only promise the government ever followed through with was, in the words of one Mohawk man “to take all of our land.”
The film’s historical background lesson allows for viewing Kanehsatake in the context of a people who are extremely distrustful of, and often times at odds with, a government who cares little for their rightful ownership of land. The conclusion of Kanehsatake returns to Oka one year after the crisis ended to find a still strong willed yet peaceful Mohawk nation. Reaffirming that the people of Kanehsatake are simply standing up for and protecting what is rightfully theirs once again allows the film to be understood in the political context that the Mohawk people of the area will continue working to regain what the government claimed from them 300 years ago. The historical information both past and future given by Obomsawin assures that the film is not only understood in it’s place within the history of Canada, but also it’s place in the decidedly unjust and subjective political reporting atmosphere of 1992 Quebec.
Coupled with providing a historical basis for the events of Kanehsatake Obomsawin details the standoff in an extremely subjective light, which only proves to strengthen the political context of the film, and thoroughly counters the one sided media coverage of the crisis. Allowing the Mohawks to explain their view on the events serves not only to set the political tone of the camp in The Pines, but also to offset the mainstream media’s own bias and lack of information on the crisis. This is first and foremost accomplished by shooting Kanehsatake in its entirety from behind the barricades, where there is a distinct lack of police and media presence. In speaking to the Mohawks involved in the standoff becomes know that, as Frank Loreto explains, “The expansion of the golf course was not simply on Mohawk land, but it was in an area called “the Pines,” a sacred Mohawk site” (par. 1). Filming entirely from behind the barricades functions also to visualize the separation between the local Oka population, and the Mohawk nation. Visually positioning these two communities as opposites allows for identification with and empathy for the Mohawk people, as well as deeper understanding of the political feelings emanating from behind the barricades. The most powerful technique of separation shown in Kanehsatake is undoubtedly capturing the flow of food and medical supplies behind the barricades. Supplies are few and slow to arrive to those behind the barricades, including women and children of all ages. As the standoff drags on into the fall of 1992, the Army flatly refuses to supply warm clothes to those in the thick of things, as one officer says “I don’t see any snow on the ground”. Concurrently, the food begins to arrive in a rotting, and sometimes inedible, condition with all packaged foods bayoneted through and leaking. Telling the Oka Crisis tale from entirely behind the Mohawk barricades brings to light the political tensions felt within the Mohawk community, as well as evoking empathetic feelings towards those involved, and counter-acts the definitively one-sided media coverage that the vast majority of Canadians are privy to.
Obomsawin presents a film that is not only entirely shot behind the barricades and historically educated, but that also illuminates the Mohawk people of Quebec as peaceful citizens with strong family values. This is first and foremost done by having the constant presence of children behind the barricades living with their families. This illustrates that the Mohawks will not separate from their families for any reason, and also that the situation they find themselves in should be so peaceful that the children have as much safety, if not more, in The Pines then on the other side of the barricades. The most poignant scene in the film relating to the family values of the Mohawk people comes towards the conclusion. The Police are attempting to arrest a Mohawk woman who is trying to cross into prohibited territory and instead of arguing the charges or fretting about towing charges for her car, she is focused solely on the fact that her small daughter is alone in the car. In near hysteria the woman pleads for the police to take care of her child, which they repeatedly refuse, insisting that she must go with them immediately. Showcasing the tremendous care that this individual has for her daughter creates at strong sense of the values held by the entire group of involved Mohawks, a view that directly opposes the stereotypical views of First Nations in Canada. Illuminating what the Mohawks are truly like in daily life allows for the questioning of political tensions towards them on behalf on the governments. The final achievement in bringing to light the Mohawks as peaceful people, and allowing for deeper knowledge of the politic context of the events at Oka, is done through giving the factual evidence about the Mohawk strategy. Obomsawin’s narration tells us that the women sat in counsel and decided that the Mohawks would not be the first to fire weapons. This decision is held strong to the conclusion of the standoff, the Mohawks having never fired the first shot. The film certainly displays that Mohawk people as “colorful individuals standing up for their modest rights” (film walrus, par. 6), allowing the film to be viewed with political and personal empathy towards the Mohawks of Oka.
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance allows for itself to be viewed in a way which evokes empathy via the political context of the events, through giving the relevant historical background of the situation, by telling the entire story of the crisis from behind the Mohawk barricades, and by enlightening the Mohawk people as peaceful and family oriented individuals. Alanis Obomsawin achieves the difficult task of balancing truth, history, politics, and ethnicity into one cohesive and comprehensible film in her expose on the Oka Crisis. Kanehsatake brings to light many aspects of First Nations political struggles that have been all but neglected in the mass media both in Canada and world-wide.
Works Cited
Belanger, Yale D. Ways of Knowing: And Introduction to Native Studies in Canada. Toronto:Nelson Education, 2010. Print.
FilmWalrus. rev. of Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance. dir. Alanis Obomsawin. May 23, 2009. Web. March 14, 2010.
Fletcher, Lynn. “A Personal Reflection on the Oka Crisis.”McGill Reporter. McGill Reporter, 8 Sept. 2005. Web. Nov. 2009.
“Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance” Film Reference Library. 2003. Web. March 14, 2010.
Loreto, Frank. Rev. of Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance. dir. Alanis Obomsawin. CM Magazine. September 4, 2009. Web. March 14 2010.
Obomsawin, Alanis, dir. Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance. National Film Board of Canada. 1993.
“Oka Crisis” AbsoluteAstronomy.com Web. Nov. 2009.
“Oka Crisis” Bookrags.com Bookrags, 2006. Web. Nov. 2009.
“Oka Crisis 1990” WarriorPublications.com Warrior Publications. Web. Nov 2009.
“Oka Crisis Resolution” experiencefestival.com Global Oneness. Web. Nov. 2009.
“Standoff at Oka” History.cbc.ca CBC, 2001. Web. Nov. 2009.
“The Oka Crisis” histori.ca. Histor!ca. Web. Nov. 2009.
Alison's Film Blog 
Leave a comment