The Oka Crisis

The Oka Crisis was a standoff for land that shook the country and the bonds between the government of Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples.
To clearly depict the degree in which the Oka Crisis improved First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) relations with the government, it is necessity to look at past relations amongst the groups and what caused distrust from the beginning. Then find the actions that lead up to causing the Oka Crisis, and finally by using all the collected information, extrapolate to what extent the Oka Crisis improved connections between FNMI and the Canadian government.

The past relations of FNMI peoples and the Canadian government are littered with conflict that increased distrust of government. The mistreatment
The most important event was the original proposition for a golf course. The course was to run through land, which was rightfully owned by the Mohawk community. It was the towns plan to construct a golf course over Kanesatake. After the refusal of the plan, proceedings took a darker and more extreme twist, which distinguished the sides clearly. The first death ensued after a raid on Mohawk blockade from the Sûreté du Québec ended with gunfire. The Canadian government stepped in trying to ensure that no more violence would follow between the groups. Eventually the army was called in during August, and the land dispute was taken to court. How the Oka Crisis played out in the short amount of time before violence entered, greatly affected the relationship between FNMI and the Canadian
Prior to the Oka Crisis, land disputes between Natives and other citizens of the country had been widely ignored by the government. Since the Oka Crisis was so large scale it attracted a lot of attention. The Natives could not be marginalized by the government because of the Canada wide reaction drawn by the shocking events. This meant that the Mohawk nation was given a full and most importantly fair trail, over the land dispute. The reaction to the proposal was extreme, but is an almost inevitable outcome after hundreds of years of inequality. The Canadian government was forced to listen to the Natives side, which improved relations because it is one of the first times that there was equal treatment of FNMI and whites. Though the crisis brought about an equal treatment, it is important to acknowledge that there is still much room for improvement between relations, treatment and reconciliation given. The Oka Crisis was necessary for FNMI rights to be recognized, and for the improvement and development of their government