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- This is the true side
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00:00:10,636 --> 00:00:14,015
of what's happened to
this community, and...
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00:00:15,558 --> 00:00:17,476
we're all a living testament.
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00:00:17,476 --> 00:00:20,604
We are here, and we are
going to tell the story
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00:00:20,604 --> 00:00:22,023
for everyone to hear.
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00:00:24,150 --> 00:00:28,029
- To me, it's one of the
darkest days for myself...
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00:00:28,029 --> 00:00:30,281
to the whole crisis of 1990.
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00:00:30,281 --> 00:00:31,407
It was a terrible day.
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00:00:34,452 --> 00:00:36,412
- Nobody ever expected that to happen.
12
00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:39,582
- Here we are, cars all busted.
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00:00:40,541 --> 00:00:42,084
I'm full of blood,
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00:00:42,084 --> 00:00:46,422
my daughter's full of blood,
and I'm carrying my daughter.
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00:00:48,299 --> 00:00:51,343
(blues guitar)
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00:00:54,847 --> 00:00:57,349
- I don't know what I would
do if it happens again
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00:00:59,101 --> 00:01:00,603
to one of my family.
18
00:01:03,731 --> 00:01:05,941
But I'm scared that I think it's going
19
00:01:05,941 --> 00:01:07,777
to happen again to me.
20
00:01:09,653 --> 00:01:12,698
(blues guitar)
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00:01:15,326 --> 00:01:19,205
- The Canadian Government,
they have troops...
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the strength comes from our spirituality.
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00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:24,460
As Onkwehonwe people,
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00:01:24,460 --> 00:01:27,296
we only have each other
to help each other.
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That's what gives us the power.
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00:01:31,592 --> 00:01:34,804
- This is CKRK 103.7 FM in Kahnawake.
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00:01:37,932 --> 00:01:42,937
(gentle music)
(singing in Mohawk)
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00:02:14,176 --> 00:02:17,263
(blues guitar)
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00:02:23,310 --> 00:02:25,813
- When a person asks me where
I'm from, I'll say Kahnawake,
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00:02:25,813 --> 00:02:27,690
and they'll be like, "Where's that?"
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It's like they don't know where we are.
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We're not recognized.
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00:02:34,446 --> 00:02:37,449
(blues guitar)
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If you say, "Oh well, it's
just outside of Montreal,"
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00:02:42,037 --> 00:02:44,331
they'll go, "Oh, oh, okay." Yeah.
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- (filmmaker) Do you think
it's a beautiful place here?
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- Yeah. I do find it a very
beautiful place in Kahnawake.
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00:02:53,340 --> 00:02:56,427
(blues guitar)
39
00:03:03,475 --> 00:03:06,812
- I sincerely love this community.
I love the people in it.
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00:03:06,812 --> 00:03:08,355
I have a son who's growing up here,
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so my interests are for
the next generations,
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00:03:11,984 --> 00:03:14,737
and that's who I feel is being targeted
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for full assimilation,
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and I will try my hardest to prevent that
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and to remain and keep our
identity as a distinct people.
46
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(gentle music)
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- [filmmaker] In 1716,
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groups of Iroquois moved to the Seigneury
49
00:03:42,223 --> 00:03:43,599
of Sault St-Louis
50
00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:46,769
located on the south shore
of the St. Lawrence River
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00:03:47,770 --> 00:03:49,605
facing the Lachine Rapids.
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00:03:51,398 --> 00:03:53,525
They named it Kahnawake.
53
00:03:55,152 --> 00:03:57,905
This Seigneury was granted to the Jesuits
54
00:03:57,905 --> 00:04:00,658
specifically for the
settlement of the Iroquois.
55
00:04:04,411 --> 00:04:08,874
The French court believed the
Jesuits would gain the loyalty
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00:04:08,874 --> 00:04:11,752
of the Iroquois once they were converted.
57
00:04:14,755 --> 00:04:18,467
The Seigneury is
approximately 65 square miles
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00:04:18,467 --> 00:04:19,969
from Laprairie to Chateauguay.
59
00:04:21,011 --> 00:04:25,391
The Jesuits assumed the group
of Mohawks who settled there
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00:04:25,391 --> 00:04:28,894
had been totally converted
to the Catholic religion,
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00:04:28,894 --> 00:04:33,023
but the people had not given
up their Longhouse traditions.
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00:04:33,023 --> 00:04:36,110
They continued to be part of a clan system
63
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consisting of three clans:
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Wolf / pathfinders,
65
00:04:41,740 --> 00:04:45,536
Bear / keepers of medicine,
66
00:04:46,745 --> 00:04:48,914
Turtle / wisdom.
67
00:04:51,875 --> 00:04:53,043
Over the years,
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00:04:53,043 --> 00:04:56,380
many concessions of Sault
St-Louis Seigneury lands
69
00:04:56,380 --> 00:04:58,048
were made by the Jesuits
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00:04:58,048 --> 00:05:00,759
for the benefit of
French Canadian settlers.
71
00:05:02,303 --> 00:05:06,181
Approximately 45 square
miles of land were taken.
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00:05:07,641 --> 00:05:10,394
The remainder of the land of the Seigneury
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is 19 and a half square miles.
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- The lands we're claiming...
we're not going to turn around
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00:05:18,068 --> 00:05:20,195
and move anybody.
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Our reserves consist of 12,532 acres.
77
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We're going to argue with
the Provincial Government
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00:05:28,329 --> 00:05:30,706
and the Federal Government
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to pay some kind of compensation
for the loss of the lands,
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00:05:34,668 --> 00:05:37,963
so that's 45 and a half square miles
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that we got to go dig up
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and say, "Hey, this belongs to us."
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- From the air, you can see the results
84
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of further erosion of
the Mohawk territory.
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Every day, about 65,000 cars
86
00:05:51,310 --> 00:05:52,936
cross over their reserve.
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00:05:54,229 --> 00:05:57,232
Trains pass through and the seaway traffic
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is on and off all day long.
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00:06:01,862 --> 00:06:05,616
In 1990, the Mohawks of Kanehsatake,
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00:06:05,616 --> 00:06:10,245
70 kilometers west of Montreal
by Lake of Two Mountains,
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made a stand to stop the
destruction of a sacred area
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00:06:14,249 --> 00:06:16,377
known as The Pines.
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Developers wanted to bulldoze
it so that they could build
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condominiums and enlarge a golf course.
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(ominous music)
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- We're tired of getting pushed around.
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What's all out there
belongs to us to begin with.
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00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,980
What gives them the right
to say that's theirs?
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00:06:36,980 --> 00:06:39,858
Plus, it all started over
a nine-hole golf course.
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Our people are buried there.
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- This was a turning point
for the Mohawk people.
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No more land taking.
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00:06:51,995 --> 00:06:55,791
1,000 police officers
were sent to Kanehsatake.
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This was done instead of politicians
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00:06:58,168 --> 00:07:01,296
taking responsibility for land issues.
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00:07:02,423 --> 00:07:06,176
In support of their brothers
and sisters in Kanehsatake,
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00:07:06,176 --> 00:07:09,263
the Mohawks of Kahnawake
blocked the Mercier Bridge
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00:07:09,263 --> 00:07:11,306
and all entrances to their reserve.
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The commuters who normally use the bridge
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00:07:16,770 --> 00:07:19,314
would have to take long detours.
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Trenches, barricades, and many
other obstacles were created
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to block access to the community.
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00:07:32,161 --> 00:07:36,039
Warriors from several nations
had come to give their support
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00:07:36,039 --> 00:07:38,167
and their lives, if necessary.
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- My role was... cooking
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00:07:44,173 --> 00:07:48,719
and feeding the men that
were at the blockade.
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00:07:48,719 --> 00:07:53,432
I think we cooked for
100, 125 men per day,
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00:07:53,432 --> 00:07:55,225
three meals a day,
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00:07:55,225 --> 00:07:59,480
and we were getting our
food from Chateauguay.
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00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,817
Just one night, I think
we made 35 pots of coffee.
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00:08:03,817 --> 00:08:07,237
Oh, we had different shifts we were on.
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00:08:07,237 --> 00:08:11,992
I was there all the time, and
I used to sleep on the floor.
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- There was a lot of young people here,
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00:08:14,495 --> 00:08:16,330
where they needed milk
and stuff like that,
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00:08:16,330 --> 00:08:19,750
and yet these people on
the other side said, "No."
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00:08:19,750 --> 00:08:22,252
I mean, there's a lot of
secret ways people came in
127
00:08:22,252 --> 00:08:25,881
to deliver other things that we needed.
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00:08:25,881 --> 00:08:30,594
- They were bringing it through
the woods, at night, hiding.
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00:08:30,594 --> 00:08:33,305
- There was a safe house where
some of our people could go
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00:08:33,305 --> 00:08:37,059
to be taken care of if they
got caught on the outside,
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00:08:37,059 --> 00:08:39,186
you know, trying to get out and get food.
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00:08:39,186 --> 00:08:42,564
They were keeping an eye out for patrol.
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00:08:42,564 --> 00:08:46,068
They were letting our people
know when it was safe to come.
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00:08:46,068 --> 00:08:49,196
I know even some people who
were running through the bushes
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00:08:49,196 --> 00:08:51,198
to bring medical supplies and food,
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00:08:51,198 --> 00:08:55,077
who were beaten, attacked, harassed.
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00:08:55,077 --> 00:08:58,413
They had phone calls. They were
calling them "Indian Lovers."
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00:09:00,582 --> 00:09:03,210
- Towards the end, there
was trucks that came in.
139
00:09:03,210 --> 00:09:05,087
Everybody got together
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00:09:05,087 --> 00:09:08,173
to help feed one another.
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00:09:13,095 --> 00:09:14,972
We all had to go and, you know,
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00:09:14,972 --> 00:09:16,848
every morning at the Kateri Hall,
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00:09:16,848 --> 00:09:19,851
and you were only allowed
maybe half a loaf of bread
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00:09:19,851 --> 00:09:21,562
and maybe six eggs.
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00:09:23,105 --> 00:09:24,189
It was difficult.
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00:09:25,107 --> 00:09:26,483
Everybody was kind of close
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00:09:26,483 --> 00:09:29,194
and pitching in and doing their share.
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00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:31,738
- They wanted to starve the Indians out,
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00:09:31,738 --> 00:09:32,990
but they couldn't do it.
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00:09:33,865 --> 00:09:36,326
We survived and we survived this one, too.
151
00:09:42,624 --> 00:09:44,501
- We tried to convince the Government
152
00:09:44,501 --> 00:09:47,462
that these people had to be
fed, one way or the other.
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00:09:47,462 --> 00:09:49,840
How? It was up to them to decide.
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00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,468
Was it through special
trucks being controlled
155
00:09:53,468 --> 00:09:56,013
to avoid any kind of arms
156
00:09:56,013 --> 00:09:58,890
or all kinds of things
being smuggled around
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00:09:58,890 --> 00:10:00,475
to support the families over there.
158
00:10:00,475 --> 00:10:02,769
I mean, we were not in war.
159
00:10:04,479 --> 00:10:08,025
(blues guitar)
160
00:10:08,025 --> 00:10:10,902
I think the population
felt bad about them.
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00:10:10,902 --> 00:10:12,404
They were not pleased
162
00:10:12,404 --> 00:10:15,532
with these people behind the barricades.
163
00:10:15,532 --> 00:10:18,285
It created a larger effect
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00:10:18,285 --> 00:10:22,039
when the population was
behind this whole issue
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00:10:22,039 --> 00:10:23,874
because of the land claims,
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00:10:23,874 --> 00:10:26,501
but I don't know if the
whites understood that.
167
00:10:29,504 --> 00:10:33,508
- We point out that there
are three preconditions
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00:10:33,508 --> 00:10:36,678
that the Government of Canada, Quebec
169
00:10:36,678 --> 00:10:38,889
have acknowledged and signed.
170
00:10:38,889 --> 00:10:39,931
People will be allowed to come and go
171
00:10:39,931 --> 00:10:42,684
and that food and medical
supplies be allowed to come
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00:10:42,684 --> 00:10:45,562
into our community. Those
things have not been met.
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00:10:45,562 --> 00:10:48,065
We feel that the Quebec Government...
174
00:10:48,065 --> 00:10:51,318
the Federal Government has
not respected that agreement.
175
00:10:51,318 --> 00:10:53,945
They have not done anything to ensure
176
00:10:54,905 --> 00:10:58,075
that the supplies enter our communities,
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00:10:58,075 --> 00:10:59,951
both here and in Kanehsatake.
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00:11:19,971 --> 00:11:23,600
- (filmmaker) Another
precondition was not respected.
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00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,938
By August 27th, the premier
of the province of Quebec,
180
00:11:27,938 --> 00:11:31,858
Robert Bourassa, asked the
international observers to leave.
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00:11:33,485 --> 00:11:36,738
The representative of the
United Church of Canada
182
00:11:36,738 --> 00:11:38,865
and Quebec Human Rights Commission
183
00:11:38,865 --> 00:11:40,992
took the initiative to replace them.
184
00:11:41,993 --> 00:11:43,870
- The police allowed the mob to prevent me
185
00:11:43,870 --> 00:11:46,081
from bringing that food in.
186
00:12:04,891 --> 00:12:06,643
- We were not pleased politically.
187
00:12:06,810 --> 00:12:08,603
We were not pleased as far as the citizens
188
00:12:08,603 --> 00:12:10,397
of Chateauguay were concerned.
189
00:12:10,397 --> 00:12:13,024
Here in Chateauguay, we were the ones
190
00:12:13,024 --> 00:12:16,027
that were kind of
hostages of the situation.
191
00:12:16,027 --> 00:12:18,405
- It wasn't like the average person
192
00:12:18,405 --> 00:12:22,659
who would be at the barricades nightly,
193
00:12:22,659 --> 00:12:24,536
burning the effigies and...
194
00:12:24,536 --> 00:12:26,747
you know, calling for...
195
00:12:27,664 --> 00:12:28,999
for the army to come in.
196
00:12:28,999 --> 00:12:31,251
Instead of taking a more
calm approach and saying,
197
00:12:31,251 --> 00:12:33,128
"Look, we'll sit down and we'll try
198
00:12:33,128 --> 00:12:35,046
to work this situation out,"
199
00:12:35,046 --> 00:12:40,552
the mayor very quickly reacted
to take a radical position.
200
00:12:41,428 --> 00:12:45,807
Some of the merchants
called for, you know,
201
00:12:45,807 --> 00:12:50,562
severe action to be taken,
without thinking of how,
202
00:12:50,562 --> 00:12:53,273
in some instances, Kahnawake
had supported them to become
203
00:12:53,273 --> 00:12:54,816
what they were,
204
00:12:54,816 --> 00:12:56,443
and that was a betrayal.
205
00:12:58,445 --> 00:13:00,572
- (filmmaker) The Chateauguay commuters
were enraged
206
00:13:00,572 --> 00:13:02,574
because the Mercier Bridge was blocked.
207
00:13:04,075 --> 00:13:06,453
They gathered at the police barricades
208
00:13:06,453 --> 00:13:09,790
in the thousands and rioted for hours,
209
00:13:09,790 --> 00:13:10,832
day and night.
210
00:13:12,459 --> 00:13:15,587
(blues guitar)
211
00:13:17,672 --> 00:13:20,050
The local businesses were losing customers
212
00:13:20,050 --> 00:13:21,593
and millions of dollars.
213
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,225
The population in Kahnawake
is over 7,500 people,
214
00:13:28,225 --> 00:13:31,853
and most of them did all
their business in Chateauguay.
215
00:13:37,442 --> 00:13:38,985
- All these incidents with our people,
216
00:13:38,985 --> 00:13:40,445
with all the riots that have gone on...
217
00:13:40,445 --> 00:13:42,239
the yelling and the screaming
has all been incited
218
00:13:42,239 --> 00:13:44,741
by the bad press, by the Federal
219
00:13:44,741 --> 00:13:46,493
and Provincial Government
and the terrible things
220
00:13:46,493 --> 00:13:48,703
they've said about the people of Kahnawake
221
00:13:48,703 --> 00:13:50,831
and Kanehsatake and
Mohawks people in general,
222
00:13:50,831 --> 00:13:51,873
terrorism and everything else.
223
00:13:52,249 --> 00:13:54,251
- What the people in
Chateauguay should realize
224
00:13:54,251 --> 00:13:59,256
is that Mohawks and Indians
of Canada, United States,
225
00:14:00,215 --> 00:14:03,343
have been inconvenienced
for hundreds of years.
226
00:14:04,344 --> 00:14:06,388
We are not trying to take their
armored personnel carriers.
227
00:14:06,388 --> 00:14:07,764
We're not trying to take their country.
228
00:14:07,764 --> 00:14:09,349
They're trying to take our country.
229
00:14:09,349 --> 00:14:11,393
They've already taken all of our country.
230
00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,397
We are here.
We're going to stay here.
231
00:14:17,023 --> 00:14:20,527
- And if you see those
armored personnel carriers
232
00:14:20,527 --> 00:14:23,530
rolling in your direction,
what are you gonna do?
233
00:14:25,532 --> 00:14:27,033
- I'll try not to get run over.
234
00:14:29,911 --> 00:14:31,663
- Lots of rumors were flying around
235
00:14:31,663 --> 00:14:35,041
that the possibility of the
army coming into Kahnawake
236
00:14:35,041 --> 00:14:37,252
and people are getting very frightened.
237
00:14:37,252 --> 00:14:39,546
Politically, there wasn't
very much that we could do
238
00:14:39,546 --> 00:14:42,674
because of the fact that
our leaders were trying
239
00:14:42,674 --> 00:14:45,510
to negotiate a settlement
with the Quebec Government,
240
00:14:45,510 --> 00:14:47,429
and at the time, the
army was already here,
241
00:14:47,429 --> 00:14:49,806
but they were on the
outskirts of the community.
242
00:14:53,310 --> 00:14:56,062
- Any place they put a man,
you face him with a man.
243
00:14:56,062 --> 00:14:56,897
- Right.
244
00:14:56,897 --> 00:14:57,689
- Right?
- Ten four.
245
00:14:57,689 --> 00:15:00,400
- No big deal. You don't
have to sit up and stand up
246
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:01,902
and be at attention and all this shit.
247
00:15:02,068 --> 00:15:03,695
You relax.
Let them stand.
248
00:15:04,571 --> 00:15:07,699
(subdued music)
249
00:15:09,659 --> 00:15:11,703
- (filmmaker) Barely 20 years after
250
00:15:11,703 --> 00:15:13,079
the foundation of Montreal,
251
00:15:14,581 --> 00:15:19,586
on March 26, 1665, in
reference to the Iroquois,
252
00:15:20,420 --> 00:15:23,048
King Louis the XIV wrote a message
253
00:15:23,048 --> 00:15:26,843
to his intendant Jean Talon stating...
254
00:15:26,843 --> 00:15:30,347
- "To wage war, to pursue
them into their homes
255
00:15:30,347 --> 00:15:34,100
if necessary, in order to
exterminate them completely."
256
00:15:35,852 --> 00:15:39,606
- The following year, Remy
de Courcelles and 1,500 men
257
00:15:39,606 --> 00:15:44,110
invaded four of the Iroquois
villages, burning everything,
258
00:15:44,110 --> 00:15:47,489
destroying the food, and
confiscating the land
259
00:15:47,489 --> 00:15:49,199
in the name of the French king.
260
00:15:51,326 --> 00:15:54,120
The Iroquois were dispossessed
of their territory
261
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,582
in Montreal and the St.
Lawrence River area,
262
00:15:57,582 --> 00:16:00,126
but their fighting spirit never died.
263
00:16:02,003 --> 00:16:04,714
- Many of our forefathers
and our ancestors
264
00:16:04,714 --> 00:16:08,510
have died for the same
thing, for the same cause.
265
00:16:08,510 --> 00:16:10,887
We're here in protection of our people
266
00:16:10,887 --> 00:16:11,888
and our land.
267
00:16:13,098 --> 00:16:13,974
Look at us.
268
00:16:14,891 --> 00:16:18,478
Should we die because of
a nine-hole golf course?
269
00:16:19,604 --> 00:16:22,357
(urgent music)
270
00:16:29,906 --> 00:16:32,659
- [filmmaker] The army was
preparing to enter Kahnawake
271
00:16:32,659 --> 00:16:34,619
and advance on Kanehsatake.
272
00:16:38,039 --> 00:16:40,166
The leaders made plans to evacuate
273
00:16:40,166 --> 00:16:41,918
the children and the elderly.
274
00:16:45,171 --> 00:16:47,757
They feared a shoot-out between the army
275
00:16:47,757 --> 00:16:50,552
and the people resisting
a search of their homes.
276
00:16:51,553 --> 00:16:54,681
- My sister works at the
hospital, and she called.
277
00:16:54,681 --> 00:16:57,017
She asked me if I was going
to go, and I said, "No."
278
00:16:57,017 --> 00:16:58,768
She said the hospital was getting ready,
279
00:16:58,768 --> 00:17:00,061
and they were making sections.
280
00:17:00,061 --> 00:17:02,313
If there was fighting,
those that would be hurt
281
00:17:02,313 --> 00:17:03,815
and those that would be dead.
282
00:17:03,815 --> 00:17:05,150
And she said, "Do you really want
283
00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:06,609
your children to see that, Yvonne?"
284
00:17:06,609 --> 00:17:11,406
She said, "If you can leave and
not let them see it and..."
285
00:17:11,406 --> 00:17:13,408
she more or less talked me into it.
286
00:17:13,408 --> 00:17:17,495
- I was in contact with
our council members,
287
00:17:17,495 --> 00:17:20,915
and I cautioned them about
declaring an emergency situation
288
00:17:20,915 --> 00:17:22,625
in the community
289
00:17:22,625 --> 00:17:25,003
because the civil authorities
lose complete control,
290
00:17:25,003 --> 00:17:27,297
and that leaves the door
open to the province
291
00:17:27,297 --> 00:17:28,256
and the Federal Government,
292
00:17:28,256 --> 00:17:31,051
the army and the police forces to come in.
293
00:17:33,261 --> 00:17:35,638
- It was decided that the Mercier Bridge
294
00:17:35,638 --> 00:17:36,556
would be the best place
295
00:17:36,556 --> 00:17:39,184
because there were little
or no people there.
296
00:17:39,184 --> 00:17:42,062
One of the key parts was that
our Peacekeepers would lead
297
00:17:42,062 --> 00:17:44,939
the entourage across the bridge.
298
00:17:44,939 --> 00:17:48,151
They would be helped through
to get off the Mercier Bridge
299
00:17:48,151 --> 00:17:49,194
through the Whiskey Trench
300
00:17:49,194 --> 00:17:52,155
and on to wherever they needed to go.
301
00:17:53,823 --> 00:17:56,951
- The older people were
really worried about the...
302
00:17:56,951 --> 00:17:59,537
...everybody else that would be left here
303
00:17:59,537 --> 00:18:00,789
within the community.
304
00:18:03,416 --> 00:18:05,710
They were really concerned that the army
305
00:18:05,710 --> 00:18:06,544
was gonna come in.
306
00:18:06,544 --> 00:18:08,838
There was going to be
shots fired. There was...
307
00:18:09,964 --> 00:18:12,050
they came back. There would probably be...
308
00:18:13,301 --> 00:18:16,846
hardly anything left
within the community itself
309
00:18:16,846 --> 00:18:18,598
if there was a fight.
310
00:18:41,746 --> 00:18:43,998
(group cheers)
311
00:18:44,582 --> 00:18:47,377
- My husband was traveling
back and forth to work.
312
00:18:47,377 --> 00:18:48,711
We had a boat at the time,
313
00:18:48,711 --> 00:18:52,006
and he'd bring back
bread and milk and eggs
314
00:18:52,006 --> 00:18:54,092
and whatever anybody needed.
315
00:18:54,092 --> 00:18:56,094
And he'd shop for everybody
and then at night,
316
00:18:56,094 --> 00:18:58,638
we would distribute it,
you know, to our neighbors
317
00:18:58,638 --> 00:19:01,099
or our family or whoever needed anything.
318
00:19:01,099 --> 00:19:02,892
One morning, he went to work
319
00:19:02,892 --> 00:19:05,520
and he went to dock his boat.
320
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:06,855
There was a crowd there, and they start
321
00:19:06,855 --> 00:19:09,023
throwing stones at him.
322
00:19:10,150 --> 00:19:12,527
- (filmmaker) When the Mohawks
would leave the reserve,
323
00:19:12,527 --> 00:19:15,155
they would be humiliated
324
00:19:15,155 --> 00:19:19,033
and every attempt was made
to rob them of their dignity.
325
00:19:51,441 --> 00:19:54,194
(dramatic music)
326
00:20:04,954 --> 00:20:07,332
- [filmmaker] Anyone
having a medical emergency
327
00:20:07,332 --> 00:20:09,709
was in for a lot of trouble,
328
00:20:09,709 --> 00:20:12,712
whenever an ambulance had
to cross the Mercier Bridge.
329
00:20:16,090 --> 00:20:17,467
- I don't deal in Chateauguay
330
00:20:18,343 --> 00:20:20,845
because of the way they treated my son.
331
00:20:20,845 --> 00:20:22,722
There was a little boy about 12 years old
332
00:20:22,722 --> 00:20:24,182
that broke his leg,
333
00:20:24,182 --> 00:20:26,851
and the paramedics went to the hospital
334
00:20:26,851 --> 00:20:28,561
in Chateauguay and when they...
335
00:20:28,561 --> 00:20:33,066
they had to go through a
police barrier in Chateauguay.
336
00:20:33,066 --> 00:20:35,109
Here comes about 15 men.
337
00:20:35,109 --> 00:20:38,321
They're trying to tip over the ambulance.
338
00:20:38,321 --> 00:20:39,113
Now why?
339
00:20:40,865 --> 00:20:42,992
And my son was in the ambulance.
340
00:20:44,244 --> 00:20:46,371
- Some hoodlums here, they was yelling,
341
00:20:46,371 --> 00:20:48,206
"Let them die! Let them die!"
342
00:20:48,206 --> 00:20:50,875
Is this human being?
343
00:20:50,875 --> 00:20:52,627
I was in the war six years.
344
00:20:52,627 --> 00:20:56,589
We respected the Red
Cross all over the world.
345
00:20:56,589 --> 00:21:00,385
But people, they sent
ambulances, not the Red Cross.
346
00:21:00,385 --> 00:21:01,594
What is ambulance then?
347
00:21:01,594 --> 00:21:05,348
- Some police were just like
this. They didn't do nothing.
348
00:21:05,348 --> 00:21:07,267
But some turn around,
and they're thinking of
349
00:21:07,267 --> 00:21:09,143
what is right and what is wrong,
350
00:21:09,143 --> 00:21:11,896
and they say, "Hey, it's
an ambulance. Let them go."
351
00:21:11,896 --> 00:21:14,649
(sirens)
352
00:21:15,858 --> 00:21:18,403
- I started my contractions about three...
353
00:21:18,403 --> 00:21:19,737
three in the morning,
354
00:21:20,905 --> 00:21:23,408
and when she came out, I felt a rip.
355
00:21:23,408 --> 00:21:26,995
At the same time, she tried
to pull on the placenta
356
00:21:26,995 --> 00:21:29,872
for it to come out, and
it wouldn't come out,
357
00:21:29,872 --> 00:21:31,165
so they called the ambulance.
358
00:21:31,165 --> 00:21:35,128
The ambulance had gotten there
at about maybe six o'clock.
359
00:21:35,128 --> 00:21:38,548
We got over the bridge
to the other side and...
360
00:21:39,507 --> 00:21:42,552
once we got there, the
other ambulance was...
361
00:21:42,552 --> 00:21:44,178
like a few ways down the road.
362
00:21:45,805 --> 00:21:48,057
So they got their stretcher
out and they came up
363
00:21:48,057 --> 00:21:49,892
and they met us and they put me on it
364
00:21:49,892 --> 00:21:53,062
and they said that my husband
wasn't allowed to come.
365
00:21:53,062 --> 00:21:56,441
They asked if one of the
paramedics from our ambulance
366
00:21:56,441 --> 00:21:57,942
go over with me and they said,
367
00:21:57,942 --> 00:21:59,527
"No, she can't go with you."
368
00:22:00,403 --> 00:22:02,655
We went maybe not even like a foot...
369
00:22:04,449 --> 00:22:06,200
and they had pulled us over.
370
00:22:07,952 --> 00:22:10,288
All I know was the ambulance driver
371
00:22:10,288 --> 00:22:13,207
had gotten out of the
car, out of the ambulance.
372
00:22:13,207 --> 00:22:14,167
He opened the door,
373
00:22:14,167 --> 00:22:16,461
and there was these
two men standing there.
374
00:22:16,461 --> 00:22:19,797
They just looked at me
and they said, "Okay,"
375
00:22:19,797 --> 00:22:21,215
then they closed the door.
376
00:22:22,467 --> 00:22:25,928
And then they... we started to go again
377
00:22:25,928 --> 00:22:28,598
and then two minutes after, it was like...
378
00:22:28,765 --> 00:22:31,726
we got out of the car
again. We opened the thing.
379
00:22:31,726 --> 00:22:34,312
Now this man has to see.
380
00:22:34,312 --> 00:22:35,980
So that was three men
now that have to see.
381
00:22:36,147 --> 00:22:39,108
We closed the door. We got
ready to pull out again.
382
00:22:39,108 --> 00:22:40,985
It didn't happen.
We got back out.
383
00:22:41,819 --> 00:22:43,363
He had to open the doors back.
384
00:22:43,363 --> 00:22:44,947
Once he had to open the door back,
385
00:22:44,947 --> 00:22:46,115
there was four standing there.
386
00:22:46,115 --> 00:22:48,993
There was three men and one woman.
387
00:22:48,993 --> 00:22:52,080
They just want to see
because they think that maybe
388
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,957
I have a firearm or something.
389
00:22:55,833 --> 00:22:57,877
At nine o'clock, we got to the hospital.
390
00:22:57,877 --> 00:22:59,629
I think they were saying
that it was one third
391
00:22:59,629 --> 00:23:01,255
of my blood that I had lost.
392
00:23:04,342 --> 00:23:06,636
- [filmmaker] The army
received orders to move in
393
00:23:06,636 --> 00:23:08,763
on Kanehsatake and Kahnawake.
394
00:23:10,139 --> 00:23:12,350
Because of the army's advance,
395
00:23:12,350 --> 00:23:15,895
Kahnawake decided to apply
their evacuation plan.
396
00:23:16,771 --> 00:23:17,647
- I don't know. They were supposed
397
00:23:17,647 --> 00:23:20,149
to raid Kahnawake or something.
398
00:23:20,149 --> 00:23:22,777
That's when they took us, uh.
399
00:23:22,777 --> 00:23:26,030
Then because I was old, I had to go.
400
00:23:26,030 --> 00:23:28,408
I didn't want to go, but I had to go.
401
00:23:28,408 --> 00:23:30,743
- We took my mother-in-law, who was 86
402
00:23:30,743 --> 00:23:35,748
and my uncle, which lived across
the street from me, was 74,
403
00:23:36,791 --> 00:23:39,127
and my son, which was 10 years old.
404
00:23:39,919 --> 00:23:41,170
I had asked them
405
00:23:41,170 --> 00:23:43,798
if they would go because
I was scared for them
406
00:23:43,798 --> 00:23:48,636
because we had heard that
the army was coming in.
407
00:23:48,636 --> 00:23:51,055
- It was my grandson's birthday.
408
00:23:51,055 --> 00:23:53,266
He was going to be one years old,
409
00:23:53,266 --> 00:23:58,146
and we got a call that
they were going to have
410
00:23:58,146 --> 00:24:01,566
a caravan to leave town.
411
00:24:01,566 --> 00:24:05,194
My mother was 77 and my father was 81,
412
00:24:05,194 --> 00:24:06,696
but my daughter changed her mind.
413
00:24:06,696 --> 00:24:10,658
She says, "Ma, I can't go."
So she put her baby in my car.
414
00:24:11,451 --> 00:24:14,912
- There was between 50 and
75 vehicles that were...
415
00:24:17,707 --> 00:24:19,208
gathered to go across.
416
00:24:20,460 --> 00:24:22,295
They were stopped by the SQ.
417
00:24:23,337 --> 00:24:26,215
At that point, they were told
by the officer in charge...
418
00:24:27,425 --> 00:24:31,429
that particular checkpoint
that everyone...
419
00:24:31,429 --> 00:24:34,348
every man, woman, and child
would have to be checked.
420
00:24:34,348 --> 00:24:36,350
The vehicles would have to be checked
421
00:24:36,350 --> 00:24:38,352
before they were allowed to go through.
422
00:24:39,228 --> 00:24:40,730
- So I asked again, "What's going on?"
423
00:24:40,730 --> 00:24:41,564
Well, they says,
424
00:24:41,564 --> 00:24:44,567
"We have to provide you
with better security,
425
00:24:44,567 --> 00:24:46,319
in order to go through."
426
00:24:46,319 --> 00:24:48,112
- When we left,
427
00:24:48,112 --> 00:24:52,325
he watched from the roof of
the house with binoculars,
428
00:24:52,325 --> 00:24:54,243
and he knew that something was going on
429
00:24:54,243 --> 00:24:56,454
because the cars were stopped.
430
00:24:56,454 --> 00:24:58,122
- They came to every vehicle.
431
00:24:58,122 --> 00:25:00,750
They searched the trunk,
the underneath the seat.
432
00:25:00,750 --> 00:25:03,002
I mean, at on point, they
tried to get my father out.
433
00:25:03,002 --> 00:25:07,006
My father at the time was
78 and my mother was 69.
434
00:25:07,006 --> 00:25:10,009
I mean, he was about
90 pounds. He was sick.
435
00:25:10,009 --> 00:25:12,512
You know, he was so weak, he
could barely move his legs,
436
00:25:12,512 --> 00:25:16,265
and the SQ officer was, you
know, pushing him in the seat,
437
00:25:16,265 --> 00:25:18,601
and I kept saying, "We have nothing.
438
00:25:18,601 --> 00:25:20,144
What are you looking for?" You know?
439
00:25:20,144 --> 00:25:22,522
I guess they thought we
had weapons or something.
440
00:25:22,522 --> 00:25:23,356
I really don't know.
441
00:25:23,356 --> 00:25:24,482
- And they looked in the trunk.
442
00:25:24,482 --> 00:25:25,733
I asked them, "What are you looking for?"
443
00:25:25,733 --> 00:25:28,236
And they said, "We just
want to make sure, you know,
444
00:25:28,236 --> 00:25:30,363
that you're not taking anybody out
445
00:25:30,363 --> 00:25:33,407
or something out or weapons out."
446
00:25:33,407 --> 00:25:35,660
I said, "I don't even own a weapon.
447
00:25:35,660 --> 00:25:38,037
Why would I be taking anything out?"
448
00:25:38,037 --> 00:25:41,499
- I felt very bad for the
elders that were among us
449
00:25:41,499 --> 00:25:45,169
on the bridge because
some were getting sick.
450
00:25:45,169 --> 00:25:46,295
But what can you find
451
00:25:46,295 --> 00:25:49,674
when you have children
and elders in a car?
452
00:25:49,674 --> 00:25:51,425
- I was six years old.
453
00:25:52,301 --> 00:25:54,804
There was me, my little sister,
454
00:25:55,930 --> 00:25:58,516
my older sister, my mother,
455
00:25:58,516 --> 00:26:01,269
my grandmother, my great-grandmother.
456
00:26:01,269 --> 00:26:02,770
They stopped us on the bridge
457
00:26:02,770 --> 00:26:05,815
to start searching all our stuff,
458
00:26:05,815 --> 00:26:09,694
and I was there for three hours.
459
00:26:10,903 --> 00:26:13,322
I didn't know what was going on.
460
00:26:13,322 --> 00:26:15,950
They just told me that we were going away
461
00:26:15,950 --> 00:26:17,702
for a little while.
462
00:26:17,702 --> 00:26:19,453
- They weren't carrying firearms.
463
00:26:19,453 --> 00:26:21,205
They weren't carrying any
of the stuff and they...
464
00:26:21,205 --> 00:26:24,333
that on-the-spot check
was done by our people.
465
00:26:25,209 --> 00:26:27,795
But unfortunately, that
wasn't good enough.
466
00:26:28,588 --> 00:26:30,548
- So I let the kids out,
and they would come,
467
00:26:30,548 --> 00:26:32,550
and they'd yell at you,
"Get them in the car!
468
00:26:32,550 --> 00:26:34,093
Put them back in. You're not allowed.
469
00:26:34,093 --> 00:26:35,595
Don't get out of your car."
470
00:26:35,595 --> 00:26:37,096
Then we started to argue.
471
00:26:37,096 --> 00:26:40,224
We said, "These kids have to
get out. These people..."
472
00:26:40,224 --> 00:26:43,853
It was just too hot in the cars.
473
00:26:43,853 --> 00:26:48,858
I had my mother with me.
My mother was maybe 70.
474
00:26:48,858 --> 00:26:50,860
It was a beautiful summer that summer.
475
00:26:52,612 --> 00:26:56,699
- I was really upset and
heartbroken for having to leave.
476
00:26:56,699 --> 00:27:00,745
My husband gave me a paper
telling me not to read this paper
477
00:27:00,745 --> 00:27:04,206
until I was off and out of the reserve,
478
00:27:04,206 --> 00:27:06,000
and it was his will,
479
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,001
and I was crying.
480
00:27:07,877 --> 00:27:10,129
One SQ was very nice about it.
481
00:27:10,129 --> 00:27:12,715
He came and he said, "Look,
ma'am." He said "I'm sorry.
482
00:27:12,715 --> 00:27:15,343
I really don't want to be
here, but this is my job,"
483
00:27:15,343 --> 00:27:16,761
and he held me and he comforted me.
484
00:27:16,761 --> 00:27:18,137
He asked me if I was okay.
485
00:27:19,138 --> 00:27:23,267
Just to be strong, keep my head
up, and take care of my son.
486
00:27:25,394 --> 00:27:27,521
- When they first arrived at that point,
487
00:27:27,521 --> 00:27:31,275
there wasn't anybody on the
other side of the bridge,
488
00:27:31,275 --> 00:27:32,485
meaning the north side.
489
00:27:35,655 --> 00:27:38,616
That one particular area
was under construction.
490
00:27:38,616 --> 00:27:40,159
It was all dug up.
491
00:27:40,159 --> 00:27:44,121
The officer in charge of us
spoke with the officer in charge
492
00:27:44,121 --> 00:27:46,999
of the SQ because he was
concerned for the safety
493
00:27:46,999 --> 00:27:49,293
of the people, of the people out there,
494
00:27:49,293 --> 00:27:51,671
and he said there wouldn't be any problem.
495
00:27:51,671 --> 00:27:55,049
They had two bus loads.
496
00:27:55,049 --> 00:28:00,054
They were all full of RCMP
standing by, riot equipped.
497
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,578
- (filmmaker) The police had orders
not to arrest anyone.
498
00:28:26,831 --> 00:28:29,291
Their concerns were to prevent the crowd
499
00:28:29,458 --> 00:28:30,584
from reaching the cars
500
00:28:30,584 --> 00:28:33,087
and blocking their
passage over the bridge.
501
00:28:33,087 --> 00:28:35,589
- We're sitting in the
car waiting, waiting.
502
00:28:35,589 --> 00:28:38,592
My great-grandmother was about 92,
503
00:28:38,592 --> 00:28:43,472
and my grandmother... I'm not
sure of her age at the time,
504
00:28:43,472 --> 00:28:46,183
and I was 18.
505
00:28:47,810 --> 00:28:50,354
There was hundreds of people
on the other side now,
506
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:53,858
calling us down,
507
00:28:53,858 --> 00:28:56,485
yelling at us, calling us savages, and...
508
00:28:57,820 --> 00:28:59,822
saying stuff in English and French.
509
00:29:00,740 --> 00:29:02,450
It wasn't nice.
510
00:29:02,450 --> 00:29:04,326
- At the time, there was myself,
511
00:29:04,326 --> 00:29:07,204
my daughter Sarah, she was 18 months,
512
00:29:07,204 --> 00:29:09,623
her father, and our babysitter,
513
00:29:10,624 --> 00:29:13,377
and we saw all the people
on the other side waiting,
514
00:29:13,377 --> 00:29:16,505
and we also heard rumors of
conversation on the French
515
00:29:16,505 --> 00:29:19,008
radio station to entice
people to come over
516
00:29:19,008 --> 00:29:23,220
and to harass us in many different ways.
517
00:29:23,220 --> 00:29:24,388
- I got out of my car,
518
00:29:24,388 --> 00:29:26,390
and I went and talked to a Peacekeeper.
519
00:29:26,390 --> 00:29:27,641
I said, "I can't go."
520
00:29:27,641 --> 00:29:30,394
I was like drained, drained. It was hot,
521
00:29:30,394 --> 00:29:32,646
and I had no more energy.
522
00:29:34,899 --> 00:29:36,901
Then he said, "Get in
your car, they're going."
523
00:29:38,027 --> 00:29:40,404
- Finally, after the crowd really built up
524
00:29:40,404 --> 00:29:43,365
to, say, two or three
thousand people out there,
525
00:29:43,365 --> 00:29:45,743
all of a sudden, the SQ
says, "It's okay to go.
526
00:29:46,744 --> 00:29:47,787
You's can leave."
527
00:29:48,913 --> 00:29:50,122
- Then I started to get nervous,
528
00:29:50,122 --> 00:29:52,416
but there was no way to
turn back at this point.
529
00:29:52,416 --> 00:29:53,667
The delay was incredible.
530
00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:56,170
We were on top of the
bridge at quite a height.
531
00:29:56,170 --> 00:29:57,171
90 degree weather.
532
00:29:57,171 --> 00:30:00,174
They assured us, after
two checks of every car,
533
00:30:00,174 --> 00:30:01,550
that everything was okay.
534
00:30:01,550 --> 00:30:02,885
"Keep your windows up
535
00:30:02,885 --> 00:30:05,638
and just keep going and
don't stop for anything."
536
00:30:05,638 --> 00:30:06,806
- "Don't stop for anything."
537
00:30:06,806 --> 00:30:09,433
And I said to him, "My God,
there's people, you know."
538
00:30:09,433 --> 00:30:11,685
You could see them on the banks.
539
00:30:11,685 --> 00:30:12,812
I said, "What if somebody fell and...
540
00:30:12,812 --> 00:30:14,438
run them over and just keep on going.
541
00:30:14,438 --> 00:30:15,648
Don't stop for nothing."
542
00:30:18,067 --> 00:30:19,652
- It was all lined with police,
543
00:30:19,652 --> 00:30:22,279
all the way up and they
were, like, screaming at you,
544
00:30:22,279 --> 00:30:23,781
"Go faster! Go faster!"
545
00:30:23,781 --> 00:30:26,200
They kept waving you
through and just waving.
546
00:30:28,828 --> 00:30:31,580
I saw a policeman standing in front of...
547
00:30:31,580 --> 00:30:35,209
of somebody with a pile of
rocks and just step aside
548
00:30:36,585 --> 00:30:40,047
when I went through and
just let them throw them.
549
00:30:41,215 --> 00:30:44,552
- Everybody started following and stones,
550
00:30:44,552 --> 00:30:49,223
sticks, bricks, boulders,
throwing from all angles.
551
00:30:50,975 --> 00:30:52,601
Your right, your left.
552
00:30:52,601 --> 00:30:54,603
From the walkway on top.
553
00:30:54,603 --> 00:30:56,480
Just throwing and throwing.
554
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:57,815
A couple of rocks hit the car.
555
00:31:00,442 --> 00:31:03,863
I started getting nervous.
556
00:31:03,863 --> 00:31:06,574
My grandmother was really
nervous, and she was driving.
557
00:31:08,367 --> 00:31:09,243
It was bad.
558
00:31:10,953 --> 00:31:15,124
- You could see the people,
waiting with piles of rocks.
559
00:31:15,124 --> 00:31:17,376
They had all their ammunition ready,
560
00:31:17,376 --> 00:31:18,502
and oh, there was so many people.
561
00:31:18,502 --> 00:31:21,881
There was hundreds of people.
562
00:31:21,881 --> 00:31:23,007
Just a big crowd.
563
00:31:34,643 --> 00:31:37,146
- These people started to pick up rocks,
564
00:31:37,146 --> 00:31:39,148
and they started throwing them,
565
00:31:39,148 --> 00:31:44,153
and one of the policemen
was trying to stop them.
566
00:31:44,778 --> 00:31:46,864
He was like one and all
the rest of the police
567
00:31:46,864 --> 00:31:51,368
were way up on the bridge
part, on the abutment part.
568
00:31:51,368 --> 00:31:52,745
So as we went through,
569
00:31:52,745 --> 00:31:56,165
one big rock hit my son's car on the back
570
00:31:56,165 --> 00:31:59,793
and a couple of smaller ones
and broke like the back window
571
00:31:59,793 --> 00:32:01,670
and it left a big dent in there.
572
00:32:01,670 --> 00:32:02,922
If you looked in the rearview mirror,
573
00:32:02,922 --> 00:32:05,799
all I could see is the dust
as we were going through.
574
00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:08,302
- The SQ, they were just standing
there. They were watching.
575
00:32:08,302 --> 00:32:10,137
They had their backs to the people
576
00:32:10,137 --> 00:32:12,640
and just watching
windshields being smashed,
577
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,308
you name it.
578
00:32:15,809 --> 00:32:17,561
- There was a phone call that came in to
579
00:32:17,561 --> 00:32:19,313
the council office
580
00:32:19,313 --> 00:32:21,315
and said there were
problems on the bridge.
581
00:32:21,315 --> 00:32:24,401
We didn't know the
extent of those problems,
582
00:32:24,401 --> 00:32:26,278
so we rushed and turned the TV on.
583
00:32:27,780 --> 00:32:30,074
(somber music)
(people chatter)
584
00:32:34,036 --> 00:32:36,205
- It was just awful because
we were so powerless.
585
00:32:36,205 --> 00:32:37,706
There was nothing you could do.
586
00:32:39,083 --> 00:32:43,337
- I felt sick. I felt...
I said, "No. My God, why?
587
00:32:43,337 --> 00:32:45,339
Why should this happen?"
588
00:32:45,339 --> 00:32:46,715
Some people couldn't take it.
589
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:49,218
For all kinds of reasons.
590
00:32:49,218 --> 00:32:50,552
Not being able to go to work.
591
00:32:50,552 --> 00:32:52,471
Not being able to earn a living.
592
00:32:52,471 --> 00:32:56,100
Having to travel all around
the place to go to work.
593
00:32:56,100 --> 00:32:57,601
- I was really scared.
594
00:32:57,601 --> 00:33:00,562
Scared for my grandchildren
and scared for myself,
595
00:33:00,562 --> 00:33:02,356
and thank God Mona is a good driver
596
00:33:02,982 --> 00:33:05,109
'cause when they were throwing stones,
597
00:33:05,109 --> 00:33:07,444
it was just bouncing off our car.
598
00:33:07,444 --> 00:33:09,822
And then, it hit the guy behind us.
599
00:33:10,739 --> 00:33:12,866
So I was praying out loud,
600
00:33:13,075 --> 00:33:15,369
telling my grandchildren...
we covered the kids,
601
00:33:15,369 --> 00:33:17,496
and then... my
granddaughter is pregnant...
602
00:33:17,496 --> 00:33:21,250
and then she could go into
labor. We were afraid.
603
00:33:21,250 --> 00:33:24,211
- I sat there during that
time and thought about
604
00:33:24,211 --> 00:33:27,381
if I was going to tie my
son in the seat next to me,
605
00:33:27,381 --> 00:33:29,758
in a seatbelt or hold him.
606
00:33:29,758 --> 00:33:32,886
And for some reason, I said,
"No, I'm going to hold him."
607
00:33:32,886 --> 00:33:36,098
I felt more comfortable
putting him on my lap
608
00:33:36,098 --> 00:33:39,018
and holding on to him
than strapping him in,
609
00:33:39,018 --> 00:33:42,396
which I normally would have
done, but this time I didn't.
610
00:33:42,396 --> 00:33:45,649
All you could see was like
an avalanche of rocks,
611
00:33:45,649 --> 00:33:49,862
and it wasn't small
rocks. It was large rocks.
612
00:33:49,862 --> 00:33:50,863
Rocks like this.
613
00:33:50,863 --> 00:33:54,158
And you could see what was happening
614
00:33:54,158 --> 00:33:55,659
to the cars in front of you,
615
00:33:55,659 --> 00:33:57,286
so we were terrified,
616
00:33:57,286 --> 00:34:02,291
and my sister-in-law
was crying and shaking,
617
00:34:04,418 --> 00:34:08,672
and a rock hit the back of
my sister-in-law's window,
618
00:34:08,672 --> 00:34:10,674
and the window shattered.
619
00:34:10,674 --> 00:34:12,176
We were covered in glass.
620
00:34:14,803 --> 00:34:16,180
It's something that...
621
00:34:17,056 --> 00:34:18,849
I've suppressed, I think, until now.
622
00:34:19,725 --> 00:34:20,976
- What if that baby would have got hit
623
00:34:20,976 --> 00:34:22,478
with the stone that they threw?
624
00:34:24,229 --> 00:34:26,356
- I just kept praying
and asking the creator,
625
00:34:26,356 --> 00:34:28,942
"Please, guide me" as I drove,
626
00:34:28,942 --> 00:34:31,070
and as the stones were flying,
627
00:34:31,070 --> 00:34:35,699
I told my mother, the children,
to bend down in the car
628
00:34:35,699 --> 00:34:37,493
and put blankets and pillows on them.
629
00:34:43,457 --> 00:34:45,959
- I just drove and watched
the car in the front of me,
630
00:34:47,336 --> 00:34:48,629
so that I don't hit him.
631
00:34:49,505 --> 00:34:51,715
- And every time I tried to get my...
632
00:34:51,715 --> 00:34:54,093
tried to put my head up
to see what was going on,
633
00:34:54,093 --> 00:34:56,845
they just kept pushing me
down. I didn't know why.
634
00:34:56,845 --> 00:34:58,514
And just heard a bunch of yelling
635
00:34:58,514 --> 00:35:01,391
and a bunch of things hitting the car.
636
00:35:03,102 --> 00:35:07,898
Then we just went really
fast and stayed down.
637
00:35:07,898 --> 00:35:11,151
My grandmother... we're
all scared and everything.
638
00:35:12,402 --> 00:35:16,907
- They were throwing
stones and chairs and...
639
00:35:16,907 --> 00:35:19,409
so my daughter... I didn't
think she was coming.
640
00:35:19,409 --> 00:35:23,539
I looked in my mirror and she
was there, pale and white.
641
00:35:23,539 --> 00:35:25,124
Her window was all busted.
642
00:35:25,124 --> 00:35:27,042
Her front window, her back window.
643
00:35:27,042 --> 00:35:29,920
- So it was all dusty.
644
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:31,797
The farthest you could see was a little
645
00:35:31,797 --> 00:35:33,924
past the windshield of your car,
646
00:35:33,924 --> 00:35:35,384
and all I kept praying was
647
00:35:35,384 --> 00:35:37,928
the person in front of me
wouldn't stop to put on her brakes
648
00:35:37,928 --> 00:35:39,388
because I was going to hit her,
649
00:35:39,388 --> 00:35:40,889
and all I could hear
was "bang, bang, bang,"
650
00:35:40,889 --> 00:35:42,266
the noise of these rocks,
651
00:35:42,266 --> 00:35:46,436
and my son crying to get the
blanket off of him and...
652
00:35:47,437 --> 00:35:49,565
between that and my tears
coming down my face,
653
00:35:49,565 --> 00:35:50,566
you couldn't see anything.
654
00:35:50,566 --> 00:35:52,317
- I was just staring out the window.
655
00:35:53,443 --> 00:35:56,697
and really, I could have
been hit in the face.
656
00:35:56,697 --> 00:35:58,949
I was there with my brother
in the back seat with me,
657
00:35:58,949 --> 00:36:01,702
and I just decided that whoever was there,
658
00:36:01,702 --> 00:36:04,580
they weren't gonna see me hiding.
659
00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:07,791
They were gonna see my
face staring out at them.
660
00:36:07,791 --> 00:36:10,210
You know, a strong face, and...
661
00:36:11,170 --> 00:36:13,422
and they weren't going
to see me back down.
662
00:36:13,422 --> 00:36:17,843
15 is... it's quite an age
to be going through that.
663
00:36:17,843 --> 00:36:20,470
That was one of the things
that I knew I had to do.
664
00:36:20,470 --> 00:36:24,474
I felt like... almost
like I was taking care
665
00:36:24,474 --> 00:36:26,560
of the family in my father's place
666
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:30,230
because I knew my mother was very nervous.
667
00:36:30,230 --> 00:36:33,984
(blues guitar)
668
00:36:33,984 --> 00:36:36,111
- I was six and a half years old.
669
00:36:37,487 --> 00:36:39,198
I was holding my brother with me.
670
00:36:39,198 --> 00:36:41,867
He was sitting on my
lap, and my baby cousin
671
00:36:41,867 --> 00:36:44,494
was sitting right next
to us in her car seat.
672
00:36:44,494 --> 00:36:47,873
All these people just
started throwing rocks at us.
673
00:36:47,873 --> 00:36:51,001
I was screaming for my mom,
but obviously she couldn't help
674
00:36:51,001 --> 00:36:54,713
because she was trying to
drive us to where it was safe.
675
00:36:56,465 --> 00:36:58,759
- My father in the back, moaning.
676
00:36:58,759 --> 00:37:01,887
He had such a whisper because
he was so sick, you know,
677
00:37:01,887 --> 00:37:03,972
and he just kept saying,
"Why are they doing this?
678
00:37:03,972 --> 00:37:05,849
Why are they doing this?"
679
00:37:05,849 --> 00:37:09,269
And my mother had her head down
680
00:37:09,269 --> 00:37:10,145
and she was praying in Mohawk, you know,
681
00:37:10,145 --> 00:37:12,147
"Sewenniio, Sewenniio, help us, help us,"
682
00:37:12,147 --> 00:37:14,149
which means, "my God, my God, help us."
683
00:37:16,652 --> 00:37:19,029
- I couldn't believe how many
people were gathered there,
684
00:37:19,029 --> 00:37:24,493
how many people hated us so
much that they weren't there
685
00:37:24,493 --> 00:37:26,620
just to throw rocks to scare us,
686
00:37:26,620 --> 00:37:28,038
these were rocks to kill us.
687
00:37:32,668 --> 00:37:35,003
- When I saw the rocks coming,
I said, "Put your head down.
688
00:37:35,003 --> 00:37:36,630
Put your head down,"
689
00:37:36,630 --> 00:37:39,549
and my mother went
down, my boys went down,
690
00:37:39,549 --> 00:37:42,010
and my older one just kept
yelling, "We're okay, ma.
691
00:37:42,010 --> 00:37:43,553
Everybody is okay. Don't worry," he said.
692
00:37:43,553 --> 00:37:45,305
"I've got them covered."
693
00:37:45,305 --> 00:37:48,642
One was 12, 10, and 6,
694
00:37:49,810 --> 00:37:53,021
and I remember from the top,
a lawn chair coming down,
695
00:37:53,021 --> 00:37:55,816
and I said, "I'm going to lose control."
696
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:03,532
My car just swerved all
over the place, but...
697
00:38:04,449 --> 00:38:06,285
somebody must have been watching over us
698
00:38:06,285 --> 00:38:08,078
because I didn't get in an accident.
699
00:38:08,078 --> 00:38:09,955
I got through it,
700
00:38:09,955 --> 00:38:12,332
and when we got into Ville LaSalle,
701
00:38:12,332 --> 00:38:14,960
that's when my son told
me that he had gotten hit,
702
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:15,836
that the rock...
703
00:38:15,836 --> 00:38:17,838
the windows were all busted in my car.
704
00:38:17,838 --> 00:38:19,339
He got hit on the shoulder.
705
00:38:19,339 --> 00:38:21,591
They had like glass all over them.
706
00:38:21,591 --> 00:38:22,551
Little, little cuts.
707
00:38:22,551 --> 00:38:24,720
He had a lot on his legs too, little cuts.
708
00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:28,724
But the main part was his neck
and shoulder that he got hit.
709
00:38:29,725 --> 00:38:33,603
He knew that I had to drive,
and he didn't want me to panic.
710
00:38:34,688 --> 00:38:36,732
- As we got through what
they call the Whiskey Trench,
711
00:38:36,732 --> 00:38:40,569
the crowd, the mob had
gathered on top of the span.
712
00:38:40,569 --> 00:38:42,446
The trench, which is impassable...
713
00:38:42,446 --> 00:38:44,865
you can't yield, you can't turn.
714
00:38:44,865 --> 00:38:46,867
It's referred to as the Whiskey Trench
715
00:38:46,867 --> 00:38:48,702
because of the Seagram's distillers
716
00:38:48,702 --> 00:38:50,245
on either side of the highway.
717
00:38:50,245 --> 00:38:53,498
It was just before I went
under the tunnel that...
718
00:38:53,498 --> 00:38:54,624
I heard the rock go through the window,
719
00:38:54,624 --> 00:38:56,626
and I heard my father moan and he fell.
720
00:38:56,626 --> 00:38:59,463
I didn't know where it hit
him, and I had to keep driving,
721
00:38:59,463 --> 00:39:00,881
and my mother was screaming,
722
00:39:00,881 --> 00:39:01,882
and she was trying to reach over
723
00:39:01,882 --> 00:39:03,008
to my dad in the back seat,
724
00:39:03,008 --> 00:39:05,969
and I was trying to reach over
and trying to hold the wheel.
725
00:39:05,969 --> 00:39:08,388
So what I did... I knew we were hit,
726
00:39:08,388 --> 00:39:10,098
I just didn't know how badly he was hit.
727
00:39:10,098 --> 00:39:12,267
Was he hit in the head?
Was he hit... where?
728
00:39:12,267 --> 00:39:13,477
I couldn't tell.
729
00:39:13,477 --> 00:39:15,520
I was looking in the rearview
mirror, but I couldn't see.
730
00:39:18,648 --> 00:39:20,359
And I went right to the Lachine General.
731
00:39:20,525 --> 00:39:22,527
I pulled into the emergency exit.
732
00:39:22,527 --> 00:39:24,363
He had been hit in the chest,
733
00:39:24,363 --> 00:39:25,906
right smack in the middle of the chest.
734
00:39:25,906 --> 00:39:27,991
This is what they threw at my father.
735
00:39:30,035 --> 00:39:31,912
This is what hit him in the chest.
736
00:39:34,289 --> 00:39:35,248
I'm gonna keep this,
737
00:39:36,375 --> 00:39:38,126
and I'm gonna remember those faces.
738
00:39:39,419 --> 00:39:42,547
(shouting)
739
00:39:42,547 --> 00:39:44,549
I can't believe racism is this bad
740
00:39:44,549 --> 00:39:46,051
in this country, in this time.
741
00:39:47,052 --> 00:39:48,553
I don't know what else to say.
742
00:39:51,515 --> 00:39:54,643
There was a large laceration.
The skin had been broken.
743
00:39:54,643 --> 00:39:57,396
There was glass everywhere in his shirt,
744
00:39:57,396 --> 00:40:00,148
in his underwear, in his pants, socks.
745
00:40:00,148 --> 00:40:03,318
They were taking glass out for days after.
746
00:40:03,318 --> 00:40:04,945
They admitted him immediately,
747
00:40:04,945 --> 00:40:06,530
and they started to clean him up.
748
00:40:06,530 --> 00:40:09,449
They cleaned up the
wound, they bandaged it.
749
00:40:09,449 --> 00:40:12,327
He was already sick to begin
with. He was already weak.
750
00:40:12,327 --> 00:40:14,079
He was already depressed.
751
00:40:14,079 --> 00:40:17,207
- I couldn't believe
people could be so cruel.
752
00:40:17,207 --> 00:40:20,669
I couldn't understand how men and women
753
00:40:20,669 --> 00:40:22,212
could stand there and throw rocks
754
00:40:22,212 --> 00:40:25,465
at other women, children,
and elderly people.
755
00:40:25,465 --> 00:40:28,969
- It's hard to... to...
756
00:40:31,221 --> 00:40:35,350
think how people could do
that to you, you know...
757
00:40:35,350 --> 00:40:36,601
to anybody, you know.
758
00:40:37,477 --> 00:40:39,438
I would never think of trying
759
00:40:39,438 --> 00:40:41,982
to hurt anybody like that, you know.
760
00:40:41,982 --> 00:40:45,610
I saw a few faces, and I
guess I'll never forget them.
761
00:40:45,610 --> 00:40:49,114
You try to forget them. You have to live.
762
00:40:49,114 --> 00:40:50,699
You have to put it in the past,
763
00:40:52,701 --> 00:40:54,870
and I always remember a little girl
764
00:40:54,870 --> 00:40:58,206
and her mother standing at the corner,
765
00:40:58,206 --> 00:41:00,625
and they were throwing us kisses,
766
00:41:02,377 --> 00:41:03,336
and I remember saying,
767
00:41:03,336 --> 00:41:07,215
"My God, not everybody is against us."
768
00:41:09,885 --> 00:41:14,389
- Over the bridge, through
the clearing of the dust
769
00:41:14,389 --> 00:41:18,477
and everything, I see an elderly
man with his two children,
770
00:41:18,477 --> 00:41:20,770
standing there crying and waving at us
771
00:41:20,770 --> 00:41:23,023
and giving us thumbs
up like, "You did it!"
772
00:41:23,023 --> 00:41:25,775
- And I remember going by
the lake shore and saying,
773
00:41:25,775 --> 00:41:30,614
"My God, there's people
rollerblading and bicycling and..."
774
00:41:32,032 --> 00:41:34,493
the life on the other side was so normal,
775
00:41:34,493 --> 00:41:37,913
and I kept on saying to
myself, "Do they know
776
00:41:37,913 --> 00:41:39,664
what we're going through
across?" You know?
777
00:41:39,664 --> 00:41:42,042
It's like two different worlds.
778
00:41:42,042 --> 00:41:45,295
It was just so normal
out there and peaceful,
779
00:41:45,295 --> 00:41:49,174
and here we were going
through all these things
780
00:41:49,174 --> 00:41:51,009
where planes were flying over us
781
00:41:51,009 --> 00:41:53,303
and helicopters and, you know,
782
00:41:53,303 --> 00:41:54,804
every day you hear somebody, you know,
783
00:41:54,804 --> 00:41:55,931
"They're gonna come in tonight.
784
00:41:55,931 --> 00:41:57,516
They're gonna come in tonight."
785
00:41:59,184 --> 00:42:00,685
- The police let them throw rocks
786
00:42:00,685 --> 00:42:02,437
and bust their windows and everything.
787
00:42:02,437 --> 00:42:04,147
- Anybody hurt? Do you know?
788
00:42:04,147 --> 00:42:05,941
- As far as I know... I don't know yet.
789
00:42:05,941 --> 00:42:08,818
- The Indians all around,
they're not gonna stand
790
00:42:08,818 --> 00:42:11,071
for another Wounded Knee,
791
00:42:11,071 --> 00:42:14,324
and we're going to die for our rights.
792
00:42:14,324 --> 00:42:15,450
- All right. Thank you.
793
00:42:22,082 --> 00:42:25,835
- I remember we were headed
towards the Whiskey Trench,
794
00:42:25,835 --> 00:42:30,465
and seeing things being
tossed, and I wasn't sure
795
00:42:30,465 --> 00:42:33,426
what it was until our
car was actually hit.
796
00:42:34,844 --> 00:42:36,846
I could remember grabbing a pillow
797
00:42:36,846 --> 00:42:38,348
that was on the side of Sarah
798
00:42:38,348 --> 00:42:40,600
and putting it over her, and
I thought that she was safe.
799
00:42:41,851 --> 00:42:43,103
My daughter was hit,
800
00:42:44,437 --> 00:42:45,313
I was hit,
801
00:42:46,815 --> 00:42:47,607
and...
802
00:42:48,483 --> 00:42:50,235
the windows were broken on the car,
803
00:42:50,235 --> 00:42:53,196
and we ventured through the tunnel.
804
00:42:53,196 --> 00:42:55,865
That was the only time
I felt we were safe,
805
00:42:55,865 --> 00:42:59,452
and I pulled the pillow
from on top of her.
806
00:43:00,495 --> 00:43:03,373
I looked down at her, and I saw blood,
807
00:43:05,333 --> 00:43:07,210
and I could feel myself that I had pain,
808
00:43:07,210 --> 00:43:10,714
but I couldn't exactly
pinpoint where it was.
809
00:43:10,714 --> 00:43:11,881
I looked at my babysitter.
810
00:43:11,881 --> 00:43:13,883
She was screaming, you know,
811
00:43:13,883 --> 00:43:16,386
and I didn't know exactly what to do.
812
00:43:16,386 --> 00:43:18,597
I just said, "Let's bring
her to the hospital."
813
00:43:18,597 --> 00:43:20,140
You know, the LaSalle General.
814
00:43:21,141 --> 00:43:25,604
We went running in there, and
they took her into emergency.
815
00:43:26,646 --> 00:43:27,856
They also brought me in.
816
00:43:27,856 --> 00:43:32,777
I had bruises. I was hit on
my breast, my arm, my face.
817
00:43:33,612 --> 00:43:35,155
When they brought her in,
818
00:43:35,155 --> 00:43:38,783
it took an hour and a
half, two hours for them
819
00:43:38,783 --> 00:43:40,243
to remove all the glass from her.
820
00:43:40,243 --> 00:43:43,246
It was stuck in her diapers,
stuck in her shirt, everywhere.
821
00:43:44,497 --> 00:43:46,374
And to try to control...
822
00:43:51,921 --> 00:43:54,382
a child, you can't.
823
00:43:56,301 --> 00:43:58,928
I was made to feel that I...
824
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:02,682
I took the decision to leave.
825
00:44:02,682 --> 00:44:04,809
I put us in jeopardy.
826
00:44:09,272 --> 00:44:10,565
For me as a parent,
827
00:44:12,567 --> 00:44:15,403
I didn't feel I was able
to do the job anymore.
828
00:44:16,821 --> 00:44:19,574
- I hope whoever shot
stuff at us is very sorry,
829
00:44:21,326 --> 00:44:25,538
and I'm glad that I still
have my mom and dad today
830
00:44:28,917 --> 00:44:31,461
'cause without my mom, I
don't know what I'd do,
831
00:44:39,969 --> 00:44:42,472
and I'm glad I have my family.
832
00:44:51,856 --> 00:44:53,316
- We were speaking with the RCMP...
833
00:44:53,316 --> 00:44:55,610
that there were supposed to
be 100 other police officers
834
00:44:55,610 --> 00:44:57,696
on standby right outside
835
00:44:57,696 --> 00:44:59,864
to ensure that there
would be safe passage.
836
00:44:59,864 --> 00:45:01,491
- There was a lot of cops there.
837
00:45:01,491 --> 00:45:03,576
It was a bad scene and no...
838
00:45:04,369 --> 00:45:05,870
no riot squad showed up.
839
00:45:05,870 --> 00:45:07,747
- We were victimized,
840
00:45:07,747 --> 00:45:12,001
and again the violence
was perpetrated on us,
841
00:45:12,001 --> 00:45:15,004
and again we were not the aggressors.
842
00:45:15,004 --> 00:45:17,966
We were not violent toward anybody.
843
00:45:17,966 --> 00:45:21,344
Why could they have
not gone and physically
844
00:45:21,344 --> 00:45:23,138
stopped these people from
845
00:45:23,138 --> 00:45:25,223
picking up rocks and throwing them?
846
00:45:29,018 --> 00:45:31,646
- I saw the news that evening,
847
00:45:31,646 --> 00:45:34,524
and they were like, "Yeah,
we got the Warriors!"
848
00:45:34,524 --> 00:45:35,900
They got a Warrior!
849
00:45:35,900 --> 00:45:39,028
They got a 76-year-old
French-Canadian from Lachine.
850
00:45:39,028 --> 00:45:40,029
That's who they got.
851
00:45:40,029 --> 00:45:41,781
Joseph Armand Lacroix.
852
00:45:41,781 --> 00:45:43,658
He married my mother.
My mother was Mohawk.
853
00:45:45,034 --> 00:45:47,787
He never really recovered
from the incident.
854
00:45:47,787 --> 00:45:50,373
Even when we had to bring
him back from check-ups,
855
00:45:50,373 --> 00:45:51,750
he would always be very nervous,
856
00:45:51,750 --> 00:45:53,793
especially going over the bridge.
857
00:45:53,793 --> 00:45:55,795
He never wanted to talk about it.
858
00:45:55,795 --> 00:45:57,547
He died in 1994.
859
00:46:00,175 --> 00:46:03,261
(acoustic guitar)
860
00:46:06,639 --> 00:46:10,310
- I should never have left.
I would never leave again.
861
00:46:10,310 --> 00:46:12,270
I feel safe in Kahnawake,
862
00:46:12,270 --> 00:46:14,814
and I feel safe nowhere else but here.
863
00:46:16,316 --> 00:46:19,402
(blues guitar)
864
00:46:22,071 --> 00:46:25,575
I'm proud to live in this community.
865
00:46:28,661 --> 00:46:30,330
Kahnawake, to me...
866
00:46:31,331 --> 00:46:36,211
shows how very strong and determined
867
00:46:36,211 --> 00:46:39,964
our people are to maintain our identity.
868
00:46:40,924 --> 00:46:44,093
(blues guitar)
(people chatter)
869
00:46:49,849 --> 00:46:51,184
I'm proud to be Mohawk.
870
00:46:53,061 --> 00:46:57,232
I think that, no matter
how the Governments
871
00:46:57,232 --> 00:46:59,234
or the outside communities try,
872
00:47:01,694 --> 00:47:03,988
they could never beat that out of us,
873
00:47:05,698 --> 00:47:06,991
not even with a rock.
874
00:47:09,452 --> 00:47:12,497
(blues guitar)
875
00:47:18,503 --> 00:47:20,129
- If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die here.
876
00:47:20,129 --> 00:47:23,758
I am not gonna die from
somebody throwing rocks at me.
877
00:47:23,758 --> 00:47:25,093
I'd rather die in my own house
878
00:47:25,093 --> 00:47:27,262
with my children and my family close by.
879
00:47:30,348 --> 00:47:32,892
(gentle music)
880
00:47:37,730 --> 00:47:40,859
- The questions were, how did
it happen and who planned it
881
00:47:40,859 --> 00:47:44,279
and what kind of plan
took place to allow this?
882
00:47:44,279 --> 00:47:46,739
And it's like... we
were in such a position
883
00:47:46,739 --> 00:47:49,868
that we really couldn't
answer those questions.
884
00:47:49,868 --> 00:47:53,413
If the people who planned it
knew what was going to happen,
885
00:47:53,413 --> 00:47:55,039
they would have never done that.
886
00:47:55,039 --> 00:47:57,667
They would have never let the
people across that bridge.
887
00:47:57,667 --> 00:48:00,420
They would have taken them
in boat or any other way.
888
00:48:03,131 --> 00:48:04,799
- I was scared at many times
889
00:48:04,799 --> 00:48:08,011
when the women and the
children were driving through.
890
00:48:08,011 --> 00:48:10,763
I've seen people approaching
with boulders and...
891
00:48:10,763 --> 00:48:13,766
softball-size rocks,
whipping them through windows
892
00:48:13,766 --> 00:48:15,184
and not really even caring
893
00:48:15,184 --> 00:48:18,062
what was on the other
side of those windows
894
00:48:18,062 --> 00:48:19,647
in the automobile.
895
00:48:19,647 --> 00:48:20,940
- What was on the other side?
896
00:48:20,940 --> 00:48:23,151
- Women and small children.
897
00:48:23,151 --> 00:48:24,903
Innocent people. Innocent.
898
00:48:25,695 --> 00:48:28,323
(moody music)
899
00:48:31,659 --> 00:48:34,287
- That was the lowest point
in my life, what I seen.
900
00:48:35,455 --> 00:48:38,041
I would say my career as a Peacekeeper
901
00:48:38,041 --> 00:48:40,835
and everyone else that
was there that day...
902
00:48:40,835 --> 00:48:43,713
we had spoken to them, the elderly,
903
00:48:43,713 --> 00:48:45,214
telling them they're gonna be safe.
904
00:48:45,214 --> 00:48:46,591
Don't worry about anything.
905
00:48:48,301 --> 00:48:52,347
Little did we know they were
in more danger than we were,
906
00:48:54,349 --> 00:48:56,726
just by passing through
that one little section.
907
00:49:00,605 --> 00:49:03,942
That day when I came back, finished work,
908
00:49:06,235 --> 00:49:07,570
I just came home.
909
00:49:09,113 --> 00:49:11,741
I went into my bedroom
and closed the door...
910
00:49:13,701 --> 00:49:15,828
my wife and my family knew what happened.
911
00:49:16,829 --> 00:49:19,999
They didn't say a word.
They just let me be.
912
00:49:19,999 --> 00:49:21,751
I'd seen it on the news that night.
913
00:49:24,003 --> 00:49:25,630
The hurt came back right away.
914
00:49:27,382 --> 00:49:29,842
- Everybody was crying and...
915
00:49:29,842 --> 00:49:33,513
I felt bad for my
grandchildren and my parents.
916
00:49:34,597 --> 00:49:36,140
You know, to go through that.
917
00:49:39,519 --> 00:49:41,646
- We went to a school in Dorval
918
00:49:41,646 --> 00:49:43,898
where they were taking names down,
919
00:49:43,898 --> 00:49:45,733
and it was there that
we saw all the damage
920
00:49:45,733 --> 00:49:47,735
to the other cars.
921
00:49:47,735 --> 00:49:49,404
We were basically on our own
922
00:49:49,404 --> 00:49:51,781
once we went through that gauntlet.
923
00:49:51,781 --> 00:49:54,742
From there, we went to a hotel,
924
00:49:54,742 --> 00:49:59,664
stayed over a week, maybe 10 days
925
00:49:59,664 --> 00:50:03,001
because we had started school.
926
00:50:04,419 --> 00:50:07,255
- My kids cried, my older one, every day.
927
00:50:07,255 --> 00:50:08,881
"Let's go home, let's go home." He said,
928
00:50:08,881 --> 00:50:11,300
"I don't even care, ma, if they stone us."
929
00:50:11,300 --> 00:50:13,928
I heard people say, "Oh,
you're on vacation."
930
00:50:13,928 --> 00:50:17,640
That was the most miserable
11 days of my life.
931
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:20,560
Sitting in that hotel, you
didn't know what was happening.
932
00:50:21,394 --> 00:50:23,438
We went out, like, to wash your clothes.
933
00:50:23,438 --> 00:50:25,565
People were staring at us.
934
00:50:25,565 --> 00:50:29,193
You know... they couldn't miss you.
935
00:50:29,193 --> 00:50:31,446
Your car was all busted up.
936
00:50:31,446 --> 00:50:36,325
- There was one elderly man
who, after the incident,
937
00:50:36,325 --> 00:50:39,662
suffered a heart attack
and died the day after,
938
00:50:39,662 --> 00:50:42,331
so that was quite devastating as well.
939
00:50:43,332 --> 00:50:45,960
(somber music)
940
00:50:49,964 --> 00:50:52,717
- I don't know what they
think of us today, but...
941
00:50:52,717 --> 00:50:55,094
it was out of our control and...
942
00:50:55,094 --> 00:50:56,804
they didn't take the means or the measures
943
00:50:56,804 --> 00:50:58,806
to prevent something like this.
944
00:51:01,100 --> 00:51:03,352
I think they were well
aware of it because...
945
00:51:04,479 --> 00:51:07,106
before that, when people
were going across,
946
00:51:07,106 --> 00:51:09,358
there was incidents that
were happening there.
947
00:51:09,358 --> 00:51:11,944
Anyways, these guys,
when they went to court,
948
00:51:11,944 --> 00:51:15,364
they got a smack in the
hand and that was it.
949
00:51:16,741 --> 00:51:19,368
- (filmmaker) 13 people were arrested.
950
00:51:19,368 --> 00:51:21,746
11 adults and two juveniles.
951
00:51:22,872 --> 00:51:25,708
One man was sentenced to
10 consecutive weekends
952
00:51:25,708 --> 00:51:26,834
at Bordeaux Jail.
953
00:51:27,627 --> 00:51:30,088
10 of them received conditional discharges
954
00:51:30,088 --> 00:51:34,467
and varied fines going from $100 to $1,000
955
00:51:34,467 --> 00:51:36,511
with probation of up to two years.
956
00:51:38,262 --> 00:51:42,517
The charges against the
two juveniles were dropped.
957
00:52:15,508 --> 00:52:18,177
- They blocked us from
coming out or going through,
958
00:52:18,177 --> 00:52:19,929
so now we don't want them to come out.
959
00:52:19,929 --> 00:52:22,140
- Okay, within some time this evening,
960
00:52:22,140 --> 00:52:24,058
the army's going to be going in...
961
00:52:24,058 --> 00:52:24,934
- I don't care about the army.
962
00:52:24,934 --> 00:52:26,144
- Children and elderly people.
963
00:52:26,144 --> 00:52:29,814
- That's too bad. It's a real
shame. I feel sorry for them.
964
00:53:16,485 --> 00:53:17,987
- As an athlete...
965
00:53:19,488 --> 00:53:23,993
one thing is that I gained respect
966
00:53:23,993 --> 00:53:25,953
from other athletes in other countries
967
00:53:25,953 --> 00:53:30,958
because of my performance levels.
968
00:53:31,125 --> 00:53:33,502
- In the lead. Now with
a full boat-length lead.
969
00:53:33,502 --> 00:53:36,088
Nobody's going to catch the
Canadians, I don't think.
970
00:53:36,088 --> 00:53:38,466
We have another gold medal for Canada.
971
00:53:38,466 --> 00:53:39,258
- Yeah!
972
00:53:39,258 --> 00:53:41,344
- Hugh Fisher and Alwyn Morris
973
00:53:41,344 --> 00:53:44,764
win the gold medal for
Canada in the K2 1000 meters.
974
00:53:44,764 --> 00:53:47,975
A lot of sacrifice by both of
these fine Canadian athletes.
975
00:53:48,267 --> 00:53:52,647
- The friends that I met and
the places that I've been
976
00:53:52,647 --> 00:53:55,775
and the respect that I was
shown, I will never forget.
977
00:53:55,775 --> 00:53:58,027
- Winners of the gold medals.
978
00:53:58,027 --> 00:54:01,280
The Olympic champions.
The team from Canada!
979
00:54:02,156 --> 00:54:03,241
(audience applause and cheers)
980
00:54:03,241 --> 00:54:06,744
- I'm sharing this victory
with the Kahnawake reserve,
981
00:54:06,744 --> 00:54:08,287
with the Mohawk Indians in Canada,
982
00:54:08,287 --> 00:54:10,748
and with all the Native
people in North America.
983
00:54:12,416 --> 00:54:14,627
I feel really strong about...
984
00:54:14,627 --> 00:54:17,505
about being an athlete, being
Native, and being Canadian,
985
00:54:17,505 --> 00:54:20,424
and carrying it up here had
very much significance for me,
986
00:54:21,676 --> 00:54:23,678
and I just hope my
grandfather's very proud.
987
00:54:23,678 --> 00:54:24,553
Thank you.
988
00:54:24,553 --> 00:54:27,014
I always had an easy time making friends
989
00:54:27,014 --> 00:54:29,183
and taking people for their word,
990
00:54:29,183 --> 00:54:32,186
and whether that's
something that I learned
991
00:54:32,186 --> 00:54:36,565
as a young man, growing up in Kahnawake
992
00:54:36,565 --> 00:54:40,194
or with my grandparents,
it was part of me.
993
00:54:40,194 --> 00:54:43,823
So when I made all these arrangements
994
00:54:45,157 --> 00:54:46,909
with the Surete
995
00:54:46,909 --> 00:54:49,829
and, given certain assurances,
996
00:54:49,829 --> 00:54:54,458
I had to go on their word
and my own deep feelings
997
00:54:54,458 --> 00:54:56,294
that this thing was gonna be okay.
998
00:54:58,838 --> 00:55:01,716
When you relay that kind of message
999
00:55:01,716 --> 00:55:04,468
in your own terms, in your own words,
1000
00:55:06,304 --> 00:55:07,930
and then see what happened,
1001
00:55:10,057 --> 00:55:11,100
you lose something.
1002
00:55:11,100 --> 00:55:12,685
You lose that faith.
1003
00:55:16,355 --> 00:55:18,316
It's so difficult to bring it back,
1004
00:55:18,316 --> 00:55:21,485
in terms of redeveloping it.
1005
00:55:21,485 --> 00:55:24,447
In retrospect, and that's always 20/20,
1006
00:55:24,613 --> 00:55:27,992
it would have been smarter to say, "Look,
1007
00:55:27,992 --> 00:55:30,578
there's a big crowd here.
It's not gonna work.
1008
00:55:30,578 --> 00:55:32,496
Go back to the community.
1009
00:55:32,496 --> 00:55:34,248
We'll work out another
1010
00:55:34,248 --> 00:55:36,584
way in which to do this at a later date."
1011
00:55:36,584 --> 00:55:39,003
There was a lot of property damage.
1012
00:55:39,003 --> 00:55:43,090
People did get hurt by
the glass and the stones.
1013
00:55:46,135 --> 00:55:47,345
Those things healed,
1014
00:55:49,472 --> 00:55:53,017
and the fact that it happened
here, in this country
1015
00:55:54,518 --> 00:55:58,647
suggests some very deep-down problems
1016
00:55:58,647 --> 00:55:59,899
from a social standpoint.
1017
00:56:01,025 --> 00:56:04,028
How long is that wound gonna
take to heal? I don't know.
1018
00:56:04,904 --> 00:56:06,155
Maybe not in my lifetime.
1019
00:56:11,494 --> 00:56:14,497
- Maybe the people that agreed to it,
1020
00:56:14,497 --> 00:56:17,041
who were in command
and who Alwyn spoke to,
1021
00:56:17,041 --> 00:56:20,044
maybe were sincere and
did it in good faith.
1022
00:56:20,044 --> 00:56:21,796
But again, it was another example
1023
00:56:21,796 --> 00:56:27,802
of the orders not being
followed by line officers.
1024
00:56:28,260 --> 00:56:30,179
- To me, it was planned.
1025
00:56:30,346 --> 00:56:34,308
It had to be planned for them
to get everybody there and...
1026
00:56:35,393 --> 00:56:36,894
all it takes is one person.
1027
00:56:36,894 --> 00:56:41,065
Word gets around and
that's it. Everybody knows.
1028
00:57:08,592 --> 00:57:10,845
- My brother worked on the bridge,
1029
00:57:11,804 --> 00:57:14,557
on the Kahnawake end.
1030
00:57:15,850 --> 00:57:19,103
All Mohawks, no white men.
1031
00:57:19,103 --> 00:57:21,355
The steel arrived from Lachine
1032
00:57:21,355 --> 00:57:25,109
to the south shore end of the bridge.
1033
00:57:26,235 --> 00:57:28,237
It came by rail
1034
00:57:28,237 --> 00:57:30,990
and then it was trucked in from there.
1035
00:57:32,116 --> 00:57:34,243
My late brother Louis
1036
00:57:34,243 --> 00:57:36,203
had a team of horses,
1037
00:57:36,203 --> 00:57:39,248
and they plowed the road
same as they would plow
1038
00:57:39,248 --> 00:57:44,086
on the farmland, to
break up the plaques out
1039
00:57:45,504 --> 00:57:48,215
before the trucks could get through.
1040
00:57:48,215 --> 00:57:52,011
They had an army of men from here
1041
00:57:52,011 --> 00:57:53,220
to shovel the snow,
1042
00:57:55,890 --> 00:57:59,643
and if your shovel was too
small, they won't hire you.
1043
00:57:59,643 --> 00:58:00,895
You had to have...
1044
00:58:02,146 --> 00:58:03,272
a regular snow shovel
1045
00:58:03,272 --> 00:58:04,773
before you went to work.
1046
00:58:06,775 --> 00:58:10,863
The iron workers on the
Mercier Bridge itself...
1047
00:58:10,863 --> 00:58:12,531
it was very, very tough.
1048
00:58:13,991 --> 00:58:16,285
It was cold, windy.
1049
00:58:18,245 --> 00:58:20,664
One whole week, before Christmas,
1050
00:58:21,665 --> 00:58:23,375
they didn't put in an hour's work.
1051
00:58:24,418 --> 00:58:26,879
Being Christmas, the company turned around
1052
00:58:28,506 --> 00:58:31,926
and paid them one hour each, every man,
1053
00:58:33,886 --> 00:58:37,932
which wasn't very much,
let me tell you. 75 cents.
1054
00:58:39,308 --> 00:58:42,019
That was the hourly rate at the time.
1055
00:58:42,019 --> 00:58:44,188
Those are the iron workers.
1056
00:58:44,188 --> 00:58:47,191
We were only laborers,
working on the abutments.
1057
00:58:48,943 --> 00:58:51,946
We were only making 30 cents an hour.
1058
00:58:51,946 --> 00:58:53,405
That was big money then.
1059
00:58:57,409 --> 00:59:00,412
In the springtime, I started
1060
00:59:01,705 --> 00:59:02,665
work at the quarry,
1061
00:59:02,665 --> 00:59:04,083
feeding the stone crusher.
1062
00:59:07,211 --> 00:59:11,215
They used the crushed
stone to build the roads.
1063
00:59:11,215 --> 00:59:14,927
10 hours a day, six days a week.
1064
00:59:14,927 --> 00:59:18,347
That's the only time I
ever worked close to home.
1065
00:59:19,557 --> 00:59:21,809
- [filmmaker] The construction
of Honore-Mercier Bridge
1066
00:59:21,809 --> 00:59:24,353
started in 1932.
1067
00:59:24,353 --> 00:59:26,313
They worked all year round.
1068
00:59:27,606 --> 00:59:31,193
By July 12, 1935, the church and the state
1069
00:59:31,193 --> 00:59:34,572
were well represented at the
inauguration of the bridge.
1070
00:59:36,991 --> 00:59:40,995
In 1955, an order in council was passed,
1071
00:59:40,995 --> 00:59:44,081
permitting the
expropriation of Mohawk land
1072
00:59:44,081 --> 00:59:46,584
by the seaway officials.
1073
00:59:46,584 --> 00:59:49,378
This meant that the privy
council was to allow
1074
00:59:49,378 --> 00:59:54,133
the seizure of 1,855 acres of Mohawk land.
1075
00:59:56,760 --> 00:59:59,388
When people refused to move,
1076
00:59:59,388 --> 01:00:03,767
a bailiff and police officers
came and evicted them.
1077
01:00:39,303 --> 01:00:41,055
(explosions)
1078
01:00:43,807 --> 01:00:45,934
- [filmmaker] Tons of
clay dug out of the canal
1079
01:00:45,934 --> 01:00:48,437
were dumped on Kahnawake farmland.
1080
01:00:49,813 --> 01:00:53,317
The seaway needed to construct
bridges high enough to allow
1081
01:00:53,317 --> 01:00:55,069
the passage of large ships.
1082
01:00:56,945 --> 01:01:01,075
The Mercier Bridge was raised
and a twin bridge constructed.
1083
01:01:02,951 --> 01:01:07,456
A lift was also added to
the existing train bridge,
1084
01:01:07,456 --> 01:01:11,794
then the bridges needed
new highway approaches.
1085
01:01:11,794 --> 01:01:15,464
That meant more expropriation
for the Mohawk people.
1086
01:01:16,924 --> 01:01:19,218
- The other bridge was going up too...
1087
01:01:19,385 --> 01:01:22,346
the railway bridge at the same time.
1088
01:01:22,346 --> 01:01:26,934
The lift bridge... all Indians
worked on the south shore.
1089
01:01:26,934 --> 01:01:28,852
Five men with a pusher.
1090
01:01:28,852 --> 01:01:29,853
That's the erecting...
1091
01:01:31,605 --> 01:01:35,609
and then the riveting guys
were four men to a crew
1092
01:01:37,861 --> 01:01:40,864
with the heater stick
ring and two riveters...
1093
01:01:43,701 --> 01:01:44,618
You wouldn't think there were
1094
01:01:44,785 --> 01:01:47,204
that many Indians in Kahnawake,
would you?
1095
01:03:11,038 --> 01:03:14,082
- I'm asking him, "When are
we gonna go back to work?"
1096
01:03:19,046 --> 01:03:22,841
- [filmmaker] By 1959,
the seaway was completed,
1097
01:03:22,841 --> 01:03:25,219
and the Mohawks would forever after
1098
01:03:25,219 --> 01:03:28,430
suffer this new
interference in their lives.
1099
01:03:30,974 --> 01:03:34,061
(blues guitar)
1100
01:04:02,089 --> 01:04:05,008
Kahnawake means "by the rapids."
1101
01:04:05,008 --> 01:04:08,595
Well, the rapids are no longer in view.
1102
01:04:08,595 --> 01:04:12,516
Much land is lost and
the beach front is gone.
1103
01:04:25,529 --> 01:04:28,031
- This is a good
demonstration of our toys.
1104
01:04:28,031 --> 01:04:29,533
I'll fuckin' cut you in half.
1105
01:04:29,533 --> 01:04:31,869
- Yeah? Why don't you come and try it?
1106
01:04:35,622 --> 01:04:36,999
- This is our land.
1107
01:04:36,999 --> 01:04:38,542
We can't go any place else.
1108
01:04:38,542 --> 01:04:40,794
We can't go to another country.
1109
01:04:40,794 --> 01:04:43,171
This is our home. We have nowhere to go.
1110
01:04:43,171 --> 01:04:45,299
They have their tanks.
They have their barb wire.
1111
01:04:45,299 --> 01:04:46,675
They have rocket launchers.
1112
01:04:46,675 --> 01:04:48,510
They have all the armaments, you know,
1113
01:04:48,510 --> 01:04:49,678
that you go to war with.
1114
01:04:49,678 --> 01:04:52,389
You don't do that with Native people here
1115
01:04:52,389 --> 01:04:54,683
who have taken care of their ancestors
1116
01:04:54,683 --> 01:04:57,394
to make sure that they don't starve.
1117
01:04:57,394 --> 01:05:00,689
But we can't take any more
of their land taking from us.
1118
01:05:00,689 --> 01:05:02,441
I mean, this is all we have left.
1119
01:05:02,441 --> 01:05:05,068
They have the power in their hands
1120
01:05:05,068 --> 01:05:07,195
to change history right now.
1121
01:05:07,195 --> 01:05:09,907
They could change it by
dealing with the land issue.
1122
01:05:13,535 --> 01:05:16,455
- The armed forces mandate was to search
1123
01:05:16,455 --> 01:05:18,707
their vehicles, I guess, for weapons.
1124
01:05:21,793 --> 01:05:23,962
You could have left the
community a dozen times
1125
01:05:23,962 --> 01:05:24,963
during the day,
1126
01:05:24,963 --> 01:05:26,715
and you passed the same checkpoint...
1127
01:05:26,715 --> 01:05:28,717
looked at the same
people and you would have
1128
01:05:28,717 --> 01:05:30,969
to go through the same process.
1129
01:05:30,969 --> 01:05:33,472
If we were going to have to suffer
1130
01:05:33,472 --> 01:05:35,098
that kind of indignity then we,
1131
01:05:35,098 --> 01:05:37,601
in turn, also would retaliate by
1132
01:05:37,601 --> 01:05:39,853
our own plan of action if you will
1133
01:05:39,853 --> 01:05:41,980
to create as much resistance as we could.
1134
01:05:44,483 --> 01:05:46,860
You're not paid to think.
That's your problem.
1135
01:05:46,860 --> 01:05:49,446
It was demanded of me to open the trunk
1136
01:05:49,446 --> 01:05:51,615
of my car and I said, "No."
I said, "You open it,"
1137
01:05:51,615 --> 01:05:55,077
and we went back and
forth for 15, 20 minutes
1138
01:05:55,077 --> 01:05:56,995
or whatever it was... or half an hour,
1139
01:05:56,995 --> 01:05:58,455
and I said, "I'm not opening for you.
1140
01:05:58,455 --> 01:05:59,748
You want to know what's in there?
1141
01:05:59,748 --> 01:06:01,333
You open the damn thing," you know.
1142
01:06:01,333 --> 01:06:04,878
"Here's the keys." And
the officer would refuse.
1143
01:06:04,878 --> 01:06:08,256
And we kept going. Finally,
as silly as it sounds,
1144
01:06:08,256 --> 01:06:10,759
we both held the key and
we both opened the trunk.
1145
01:06:13,345 --> 01:06:15,764
I missed at least one meeting
anyway that I was supposed
1146
01:06:15,764 --> 01:06:20,769
to be involved in with
several members of parliament.
1147
01:06:22,270 --> 01:06:24,773
But I did manage to get
there later on in the day.
1148
01:06:24,773 --> 01:06:28,276
But it's just an example of how difficult
1149
01:06:28,276 --> 01:06:30,779
it was for us to do the
things that we had to do
1150
01:06:30,779 --> 01:06:32,030
during that time period.
1151
01:06:36,368 --> 01:06:39,663
- [filmmaker] On August 28,
there were secret meetings
1152
01:06:39,663 --> 01:06:42,290
at the Hilton Hotel in Dorval.
1153
01:06:42,290 --> 01:06:43,417
Mohawk leaders
1154
01:06:43,417 --> 01:06:46,878
and officials of Federal
and Provincial Governments
1155
01:06:46,878 --> 01:06:51,008
were trying to negotiate a
peaceful ending to the stand-off.
1156
01:06:52,175 --> 01:06:55,804
- And I'll continue my
discussions with the confederacy.
1157
01:06:57,389 --> 01:06:59,433
- [filmmaker] The barricades
would be dismantled
1158
01:06:59,433 --> 01:07:02,811
by both the army and the Warriors.
1159
01:07:02,811 --> 01:07:05,272
The Mercier Bridge would
be open to the public
1160
01:07:05,272 --> 01:07:09,067
and Colonel Gagnon promised
the army would not enter
1161
01:07:09,067 --> 01:07:11,528
the reserve once the bridge was opened.
1162
01:07:15,782 --> 01:07:19,036
The barricades on the
Mercier Bridge came down.
1163
01:07:19,036 --> 01:07:22,664
Repair work was resumed on the bridge.
1164
01:07:22,664 --> 01:07:26,084
Experts searched for explosive devices
1165
01:07:26,084 --> 01:07:28,045
on the bridge and in the river.
1166
01:07:29,838 --> 01:07:33,467
- One day, I saw a submarine
coming through and I ran.
1167
01:07:33,467 --> 01:07:35,343
I got my camera, and I took pictures.
1168
01:07:35,343 --> 01:07:37,429
I saw it on the news when
they were interviewing,
1169
01:07:37,429 --> 01:07:40,223
and they said, "No, there
wasn't a submarine that day...
1170
01:07:40,223 --> 01:07:42,100
came through," you know.
1171
01:07:43,101 --> 01:07:45,729
"The Indians are making it up."
1172
01:07:45,729 --> 01:07:48,356
And the helicopters, they
came right over here,
1173
01:07:48,356 --> 01:07:52,235
maybe six feet off on top of the water.
1174
01:07:52,235 --> 01:07:54,488
These helicopters were so loud.
1175
01:07:54,488 --> 01:07:58,617
I remember telling the
kids, "Just ignore it.
1176
01:07:58,617 --> 01:07:59,701
Do your homework."
1177
01:08:00,994 --> 01:08:03,371
- [filmmaker] In a
meeting with the Warriors,
1178
01:08:03,538 --> 01:08:07,501
Colonel Gagnon announced
that his orders had changed.
1179
01:08:07,501 --> 01:08:10,712
The army was preparing to
enter the Kahnawake reserve.
1180
01:08:12,005 --> 01:08:14,883
Ironically, in many battles,
1181
01:08:14,883 --> 01:08:18,595
the Mohawks were allied to the
French and English Canadians
1182
01:08:18,595 --> 01:08:21,098
to defend Canada against the Americans.
1183
01:08:22,724 --> 01:08:27,187
In 1847, for service in Canada,
1184
01:08:27,187 --> 01:08:30,982
119 medals were given to Indian Warriors,
1185
01:08:30,982 --> 01:08:34,861
of which 82 were for the
Chateauguay river battle.
1186
01:08:34,861 --> 01:08:39,866
These Warriors were Abenakis, Algonquins,
1187
01:08:40,242 --> 01:08:42,244
Nipissings, and Iroquois.
1188
01:08:44,246 --> 01:08:48,875
Although the Mohawks were
robbed of their ancestral lands,
1189
01:08:48,875 --> 01:08:52,712
they helped defend Canada
against its enemies
1190
01:08:52,712 --> 01:08:55,340
and fought throughout both world wars.
1191
01:08:55,340 --> 01:08:57,884
(somber music)
1192
01:09:03,140 --> 01:09:05,725
Meanwhile, in Kanehsatake,
1193
01:09:05,725 --> 01:09:08,603
the army advanced and took over The Pines.
1194
01:09:09,521 --> 01:09:11,982
The Warriors moved to
the treatment center.
1195
01:09:12,149 --> 01:09:15,360
- Basically, I would like
you to contact your general
1196
01:09:15,360 --> 01:09:16,778
or whoever it is,
1197
01:09:16,778 --> 01:09:19,364
and stop the advancement of these troops.
1198
01:09:19,364 --> 01:09:21,283
- I'm not responsible on this site.
1199
01:09:21,283 --> 01:09:22,909
- I'm just saying he can
issue the order immediately
1200
01:09:22,909 --> 01:09:25,412
until we can resolve
these things peacefully.
1201
01:09:25,412 --> 01:09:28,165
So they are not recognizing
our confederacy.
1202
01:09:29,666 --> 01:09:30,792
- Hey, that's against the law.
1203
01:09:40,135 --> 01:09:43,805
- [filmmaker] The army rolled
in with their armored vehicles,
1204
01:09:43,805 --> 01:09:46,558
all the way to the
Longhouse and raided it.
1205
01:09:48,435 --> 01:09:49,561
- Hey!
1206
01:09:54,274 --> 01:09:58,945
- The very attack on one of
our Longhouses is disgusting.
1207
01:09:59,404 --> 01:10:01,698
Would you like your synagogues,
1208
01:10:01,698 --> 01:10:05,410
your churches, attacked
the way ours was yesterday?
1209
01:10:11,333 --> 01:10:12,584
- [filmmaker] Finally,
1210
01:10:12,584 --> 01:10:16,171
the bridge was opened to
the public on September 6.
1211
01:10:17,339 --> 01:10:18,715
- They were flying right over our houses,
1212
01:10:18,715 --> 01:10:20,592
the Chinooks, the double blades.
1213
01:10:20,592 --> 01:10:22,469
Those things are big. They're long.
1214
01:10:22,469 --> 01:10:24,721
They're like 30 feet off your roof.
1215
01:10:24,721 --> 01:10:26,181
Three or four of them.
1216
01:10:26,181 --> 01:10:28,725
Flying all over the town and
they all out on the island.
1217
01:10:28,725 --> 01:10:30,852
- We were sitting here having lunch,
1218
01:10:30,852 --> 01:10:33,730
and next thing you know,
there was helicopters
1219
01:10:33,730 --> 01:10:34,731
flying all over,
1220
01:10:35,607 --> 01:10:38,318
army men just flowing
out of the helicopters.
1221
01:10:40,111 --> 01:10:43,865
Then people from town just
pulled up, pulled up, pulled up.
1222
01:10:43,865 --> 01:10:46,201
There was people all over.
1223
01:10:47,369 --> 01:10:49,454
- We were coming back from
a meeting in Montreal,
1224
01:10:49,454 --> 01:10:52,499
and I received a call on my cell phone
1225
01:10:52,499 --> 01:10:55,126
that the army was at the island.
1226
01:10:55,126 --> 01:10:57,003
We should get there as quickly as we could
1227
01:10:57,003 --> 01:10:58,755
to try and calm things down.
1228
01:10:58,755 --> 01:11:02,509
There was a kind of a
stand-off on the small bridge
1229
01:11:02,509 --> 01:11:05,345
that goes to the island between
the mainland of Kahnawake
1230
01:11:05,345 --> 01:11:08,223
and the Tekakwitha island.
1231
01:11:08,223 --> 01:11:10,267
There were barbed wire
that had been strung,
1232
01:11:10,267 --> 01:11:13,353
and the armed forces were
standing on the island itself,
1233
01:11:14,145 --> 01:11:16,523
and people were demanding, you know,
1234
01:11:16,523 --> 01:11:17,774
"What are you doing there?"
1235
01:11:19,776 --> 01:11:21,236
First, there was no response,
1236
01:11:21,236 --> 01:11:23,863
but then one of the
commanding officers came over
1237
01:11:23,863 --> 01:11:25,865
and said that they had received evidence
1238
01:11:25,865 --> 01:11:29,035
that there was weapons that
were hidden on the island
1239
01:11:29,035 --> 01:11:31,871
and that they were searching
the island to find out
1240
01:11:31,871 --> 01:11:34,040
whether there was any
truth to this information
1241
01:11:34,040 --> 01:11:36,293
that they had received.
1242
01:11:37,669 --> 01:11:39,004
- And even across the seaway,
1243
01:11:39,004 --> 01:11:41,423
they had like four or
five, maybe six APC's.
1244
01:11:41,423 --> 01:11:43,675
They even had army tanks across the river
1245
01:11:43,675 --> 01:11:46,386
with their barrels pointing right at us.
1246
01:11:46,386 --> 01:11:50,056
- What people saw was...
was a row of soldiers
1247
01:11:50,890 --> 01:11:54,060
with automatic weapons, gas masks.
1248
01:11:54,060 --> 01:11:55,937
They had everything to their advantage,
1249
01:11:55,937 --> 01:11:59,190
to be able to overwhelm
and overpower our people.
1250
01:11:59,190 --> 01:12:01,818
- Some of them, I
believe, weren't really...
1251
01:12:01,818 --> 01:12:04,321
didn't want to really be there, you know.
1252
01:12:04,321 --> 01:12:06,656
It's like we're stuck
on an island over here,
1253
01:12:06,656 --> 01:12:09,284
and all these people are around us,
1254
01:12:09,284 --> 01:12:11,911
but they had their guns.
We didn't have no guns.
1255
01:12:11,911 --> 01:12:13,455
- Are you prepared to
let our people move out?
1256
01:12:13,455 --> 01:12:15,332
- No!
1257
01:12:17,083 --> 01:12:18,710
- A couple of the soldiers that were there
1258
01:12:18,710 --> 01:12:23,089
were also in the Longhouse
raid, and we recognized them
1259
01:12:23,089 --> 01:12:25,800
'cause they're the ones that
we fought with, you know,
1260
01:12:26,718 --> 01:12:30,180
and you could tell that
they were very uncomfortable
1261
01:12:30,180 --> 01:12:32,349
standing there.
1262
01:12:32,349 --> 01:12:36,227
They're just waiting
for orders, which was...
1263
01:12:37,103 --> 01:12:38,480
what were they gonna do?
1264
01:12:39,064 --> 01:12:41,107
They weren't gonna come into town.
1265
01:12:41,107 --> 01:12:42,317
- Once they would have
made it over that bridge,
1266
01:12:42,317 --> 01:12:44,736
there would have been martial law in town.
1267
01:12:44,736 --> 01:12:46,363
And then it would have been even worse.
1268
01:12:46,363 --> 01:12:49,574
Gonna have an APC parked outside
my house? No way. (laughs)
1269
01:12:49,574 --> 01:12:52,118
Have army guys walking
around our territory? No way.
1270
01:12:53,119 --> 01:12:54,496
They wouldn't have lasted.
1271
01:12:54,496 --> 01:12:56,498
It would have been like
a big war for sure.
1272
01:12:57,624 --> 01:13:00,710
- The guys that were on
the force even said it.
1273
01:13:00,710 --> 01:13:05,507
If they come in, they're
gonna go with the people.
1274
01:13:06,508 --> 01:13:10,011
(blues music)
1275
01:13:10,011 --> 01:13:13,640
- That had to be one of
the most bravest moments
1276
01:13:13,640 --> 01:13:15,767
that I've ever seen
during that time period
1277
01:13:15,767 --> 01:13:17,102
and during my lifetime
1278
01:13:18,019 --> 01:13:21,523
of our people defending their territory
1279
01:13:21,523 --> 01:13:23,650
against tremendous odds.
1280
01:13:30,490 --> 01:13:32,909
- We are right! They're wrong!
1281
01:13:33,910 --> 01:13:37,038
They're attacking us! They're proud!
1282
01:13:37,038 --> 01:13:39,040
Look at them all! You're all proud!
1283
01:13:40,667 --> 01:13:42,544
- Then our town brought a dump truck
1284
01:13:42,544 --> 01:13:44,879
to the other side of the bridge.
1285
01:13:44,879 --> 01:13:47,674
Blocked it. More people arrived.
1286
01:13:48,550 --> 01:13:49,884
People were getting rowdy.
1287
01:13:51,136 --> 01:13:53,012
- They were really close
to the bridge there,
1288
01:13:53,012 --> 01:13:55,557
the army. They made a circle.
1289
01:13:55,557 --> 01:14:00,562
They were throwing razor
wire from the helicopters,
1290
01:14:00,728 --> 01:14:02,188
and as fast as they were throwing it,
1291
01:14:02,188 --> 01:14:04,399
the people were picking it up.
(laughs)
1292
01:14:11,448 --> 01:14:12,907
- They start shooting at us.
1293
01:14:14,075 --> 01:14:16,828
Bunch of tear gas start
going all over the place.
1294
01:14:16,828 --> 01:14:18,830
People start running over the
bridge to get over the bridge,
1295
01:14:18,830 --> 01:14:19,914
get away from it.
1296
01:14:20,790 --> 01:14:23,835
(blues music)
1297
01:14:31,301 --> 01:14:33,595
Even women there that were pregnant...
1298
01:14:33,595 --> 01:14:34,471
you could see that they're pregnant,
1299
01:14:34,471 --> 01:14:36,097
but yet they still threw the gas at us.
1300
01:14:37,223 --> 01:14:39,726
- More tear gas. Fights.
1301
01:14:39,726 --> 01:14:42,937
After that was fighting,
fighting, everybody was fighting.
1302
01:14:42,937 --> 01:14:45,064
I myself was fighting.
1303
01:14:50,987 --> 01:14:52,113
- It wasn't planned.
1304
01:14:52,113 --> 01:14:55,867
People were there. We're just
a big family, that's all,
1305
01:14:55,867 --> 01:14:58,244
and we're gonna stay that
way, we're gonna stay united,
1306
01:14:58,244 --> 01:15:00,079
and we're gonna be as strong as ever.
1307
01:15:01,706 --> 01:15:04,459
(dramatic music)
1308
01:15:10,381 --> 01:15:13,384
- Two army men just threw
me right over the bridge,
1309
01:15:13,384 --> 01:15:15,720
and there was a big rock
over here at the time.
1310
01:15:17,096 --> 01:15:22,101
Landed on that, on my
hip. Fled into the water.
1311
01:15:22,268 --> 01:15:23,645
There was people all in here,
1312
01:15:24,771 --> 01:15:27,273
washing their face, getting the tear gas,
1313
01:15:27,273 --> 01:15:28,525
so they could see again.
1314
01:15:32,779 --> 01:15:35,490
I remember a teacher I had in high school.
1315
01:15:36,866 --> 01:15:37,659
He was standing there.
1316
01:15:37,659 --> 01:15:39,160
He's yelling, "Hold on! Hold on!"
1317
01:15:39,160 --> 01:15:42,288
And I'm telling him, "Help
me!" I didn't know how to swim.
1318
01:15:43,248 --> 01:15:44,666
I made it to the second pier
1319
01:15:45,667 --> 01:15:47,377
then a ship started passing,
1320
01:15:47,377 --> 01:15:49,045
the current just pulling you in.
1321
01:15:51,422 --> 01:15:53,174
It pulled me right up to the boat.
1322
01:15:54,676 --> 01:15:55,802
I woulda went right underneath.
1323
01:15:58,179 --> 01:16:00,807
This is where the elderly man, Albert...
1324
01:16:00,807 --> 01:16:05,186
his father Sonny was holding
my head above the water
1325
01:16:05,186 --> 01:16:07,313
to keep me from going under.
1326
01:16:08,439 --> 01:16:11,442
(gentle acoustic guitar)
1327
01:16:12,694 --> 01:16:15,530
They lifted me out of the
water and put me onto the boat,
1328
01:16:17,574 --> 01:16:19,951
and they drove off and
put me in an ambulance,
1329
01:16:20,952 --> 01:16:23,955
and finally I got to the hospital.
1330
01:16:25,164 --> 01:16:27,792
I had a fractured hip in two spots.
1331
01:16:31,921 --> 01:16:33,715
So much I wanted to get back at them.
1332
01:16:34,966 --> 01:16:37,093
I still remember their faces,
1333
01:16:38,094 --> 01:16:39,345
two of them especially.
1334
01:16:40,972 --> 01:16:42,432
Sometimes I can't even walk.
1335
01:16:43,308 --> 01:16:45,101
I mean, it's gonna be a
wound that's gonna be there
1336
01:16:45,101 --> 01:16:46,185
for the rest of my life.
1337
01:16:46,728 --> 01:16:50,315
- Some had masks on and then
they would stand so long,
1338
01:16:50,315 --> 01:16:53,985
and then another line would
come in and they would take
1339
01:16:53,985 --> 01:16:57,113
their masks off. It was like
they were always on duty.
1340
01:16:57,113 --> 01:16:59,115
Shot us with tear gas and everything.
1341
01:17:01,075 --> 01:17:02,619
- Once the air cleared,
1342
01:17:02,619 --> 01:17:04,704
and we noticed they were
trying to cross the bridge,
1343
01:17:04,704 --> 01:17:06,122
and that's when we started stoning.
1344
01:17:07,832 --> 01:17:09,626
We learned that from Whiskey Trench.
1345
01:17:10,877 --> 01:17:12,337
We learned that from what
they did to our people
1346
01:17:12,337 --> 01:17:13,630
going over the Mercier Bridge.
1347
01:17:13,630 --> 01:17:15,256
Okay, they want to stone our people?
1348
01:17:15,256 --> 01:17:16,090
That's all we've got.
1349
01:17:16,633 --> 01:17:18,885
Had their helmets and
all their gear with them.
1350
01:17:18,885 --> 01:17:20,094
They were halfway across
the bridge but us,
1351
01:17:20,094 --> 01:17:20,887
we didn't give up.
1352
01:17:20,887 --> 01:17:22,347
We just kept worse and worse,
1353
01:17:22,347 --> 01:17:23,514
throwing more stones, more stones.
1354
01:17:24,724 --> 01:17:26,517
They couldn't take it
anymore, and they backed off.
1355
01:17:27,769 --> 01:17:32,774
(blues music)
(people shouting)
1356
01:17:34,525 --> 01:17:36,027
- People started pushing them back,
1357
01:17:36,027 --> 01:17:38,154
away from the bridge entrance.
1358
01:17:40,865 --> 01:17:43,284
Then they wanted to march over the bridge
1359
01:17:43,284 --> 01:17:44,994
through the community itself,
1360
01:17:44,994 --> 01:17:49,040
just to show that they had taken
the community, so to speak,
1361
01:17:49,040 --> 01:17:52,293
and the people's resistance
prevented them from doing that.
1362
01:17:52,293 --> 01:17:55,046
- And the women are the
title holders to the land,
1363
01:17:56,506 --> 01:17:58,049
and we'll never give that up.
1364
01:18:00,301 --> 01:18:03,763
No amount of money
1365
01:18:03,763 --> 01:18:07,517
can take the value of our land.
1366
01:18:10,019 --> 01:18:13,272
- When all you had was
people with their spirit
1367
01:18:14,190 --> 01:18:15,817
and their strength
1368
01:18:15,817 --> 01:18:17,694
defending their territory, their village,
1369
01:18:17,694 --> 01:18:19,404
the heart where their children are.
1370
01:18:19,404 --> 01:18:21,781
That's what really this was all about.
1371
01:18:36,671 --> 01:18:39,465
- What kept us... gave us the strength
1372
01:18:39,465 --> 01:18:43,970
was our ancestors
through our spirituality,
1373
01:18:51,602 --> 01:18:54,230
and we're gonna be here forever.
1374
01:18:54,230 --> 01:18:56,482
We were always in this area.
1375
01:18:56,482 --> 01:18:58,359
We're not gonna go away.
1376
01:18:58,359 --> 01:19:00,236
No one's gonna drive us out.
1377
01:19:00,236 --> 01:19:01,738
We're gonna remain here.
1378
01:19:02,613 --> 01:19:04,615
- Need blood before you leave?
1379
01:19:04,615 --> 01:19:07,368
- So the people out
there should know that.
1380
01:19:17,587 --> 01:19:20,131
- It was a very tense
and dangerous situation.
1381
01:19:22,884 --> 01:19:24,886
It almost erupted into
1382
01:19:24,886 --> 01:19:29,265
what could have been, I
guess, a tragic situation.
1383
01:19:30,266 --> 01:19:32,643
One of the soldiers did get attacked
1384
01:19:32,643 --> 01:19:35,104
and was beaten by some of our people.
1385
01:19:36,230 --> 01:19:39,650
(gunshots)
1386
01:19:39,650 --> 01:19:41,527
- Right across from the
island, there's a hospital.
1387
01:19:41,527 --> 01:19:44,906
A lot of old people in
there. Imagine how they felt?
1388
01:19:44,906 --> 01:19:48,284
Scared and they hear gunshots going off.
1389
01:19:48,284 --> 01:19:50,036
- To defend their comrade,
1390
01:19:50,036 --> 01:19:53,247
one of the soldiers did fire
one of the automatic weapons
1391
01:19:53,247 --> 01:19:55,249
that he had into the air,
1392
01:19:55,249 --> 01:19:58,169
and that created a
situation in which then...
1393
01:19:58,169 --> 01:20:01,172
the rest of his colleagues
then pointed their weapons
1394
01:20:01,172 --> 01:20:03,382
at everybody and to myself.
I said, "This is it.
1395
01:20:03,382 --> 01:20:06,803
They're gonna shoot," but
cooler heads prevailed
1396
01:20:06,803 --> 01:20:08,262
and they didn't.
1397
01:20:08,262 --> 01:20:11,682
They managed to take their...
1398
01:20:11,682 --> 01:20:15,812
injured colleague and
tend to his injuries.
1399
01:20:15,812 --> 01:20:18,898
People were still quite insistent
1400
01:20:18,898 --> 01:20:20,024
that they were going to leave.
1401
01:20:20,024 --> 01:20:22,443
That they had no choice in the matter.
1402
01:20:22,443 --> 01:20:25,279
The soldiers themselves...
they were scared...
1403
01:20:28,074 --> 01:20:30,576
because they could see
the anger and the hatred
1404
01:20:30,576 --> 01:20:33,788
in our people for them being there.
1405
01:20:34,330 --> 01:20:37,083
They also raided the marina itself
1406
01:20:37,583 --> 01:20:41,045
and for whatever reason, they
seized alcohol and records
1407
01:20:41,045 --> 01:20:42,922
and all kinds of things
which, from what I know...
1408
01:20:42,922 --> 01:20:45,466
from what I understand,
have never been returned...
1409
01:20:47,343 --> 01:20:48,469
and they asked for time.
1410
01:20:48,469 --> 01:20:50,847
They said, "Look, we
have X number of people
1411
01:20:50,847 --> 01:20:52,849
on the island over here.
1412
01:20:52,849 --> 01:20:55,810
In order for us to evacuate,
we will need to make several...
1413
01:20:55,810 --> 01:20:59,564
several trips, in order
to pick everybody up."
1414
01:20:59,564 --> 01:21:01,566
Some people said, "We don't
care how they get out of here.
1415
01:21:01,566 --> 01:21:02,984
Let 'em swim if they want."
1416
01:21:07,488 --> 01:21:09,198
- We stayed there 'till nighttime,
1417
01:21:10,241 --> 01:21:12,368
'till they were ready to move out.
1418
01:21:12,368 --> 01:21:14,495
- We stopped them from
coming into our territory,
1419
01:21:14,495 --> 01:21:16,330
and we sent them right back home,
1420
01:21:16,330 --> 01:21:17,623
same way they came in.
1421
01:21:21,127 --> 01:21:23,880
- [filmmaker] The confrontation
lasted seven hours.
1422
01:21:25,506 --> 01:21:29,010
The army could not enter the
town as they had planned.
1423
01:21:29,844 --> 01:21:32,889
At sundown, the helicopters airlifted
1424
01:21:32,889 --> 01:21:35,725
the 140 soldiers off the island.
1425
01:21:48,863 --> 01:21:50,281
- The last Chinook that took off
1426
01:21:50,281 --> 01:21:52,408
almost didn't even make it off the ground.
1427
01:21:53,409 --> 01:21:55,161
That's how overloaded they were
1428
01:21:55,870 --> 01:21:57,496
and in a hurry to get out of here.
1429
01:21:58,998 --> 01:22:00,666
- [filmmaker] In late afternoon,
1430
01:22:00,666 --> 01:22:03,544
the 78-day siege came to an end.
1431
01:22:07,298 --> 01:22:10,384
(blues music)
1432
01:22:16,390 --> 01:22:19,936
- Come on, get up! Get the fuck up!
1433
01:22:25,691 --> 01:22:29,070
- The soldiers handcuffed
everyone except the children
1434
01:22:29,070 --> 01:22:32,073
and put them in waiting buses.
1435
01:22:32,073 --> 01:22:34,951
They were taken to an army camp.
1436
01:22:35,952 --> 01:22:38,829
In Farnham, they remained in the buses
1437
01:22:38,829 --> 01:22:41,791
until 4 A.M. then,
1438
01:22:41,791 --> 01:22:44,335
one by one, they were interrogated
1439
01:22:44,335 --> 01:22:46,170
by the army and the police.
1440
01:22:48,214 --> 01:22:51,842
Their lawyers argued for
hours to see their clients.
1441
01:22:52,718 --> 01:22:55,346
When they finally were
allowed in the base,
1442
01:22:55,346 --> 01:22:58,849
they were not permitted to be
present at the interrogation.
1443
01:23:01,811 --> 01:23:03,354
The Warriors were released
1444
01:23:03,354 --> 01:23:06,816
nine days later, after the
laying of criminal charges.
1445
01:23:10,319 --> 01:23:11,112
- The spirit was high.
1446
01:23:11,112 --> 01:23:13,197
Confidence was always high up here.
1447
01:23:13,197 --> 01:23:14,490
There was no other...
1448
01:23:15,741 --> 01:23:17,702
no other motive for anybody being here
1449
01:23:17,702 --> 01:23:19,704
other than defending this land,
1450
01:23:21,622 --> 01:23:24,375
and when it comes to land, Native people
1451
01:23:24,375 --> 01:23:26,585
have very little left.
1452
01:23:26,585 --> 01:23:29,255
They've either had it
treatied away, stolen away...
1453
01:23:30,631 --> 01:23:34,260
or outwardly taken from
them, including rights,
1454
01:23:35,970 --> 01:23:39,348
just general disregard for our heritage,
1455
01:23:40,141 --> 01:23:43,019
so nothing can shock a native
1456
01:23:43,019 --> 01:23:44,895
because it's already been done to them
1457
01:23:44,895 --> 01:23:46,397
repeatedly throughout history.
1458
01:23:48,399 --> 01:23:52,403
(chanting and percussion)
1459
01:24:06,000 --> 01:24:08,294
- I have no fear of going to jail.
1460
01:24:08,294 --> 01:24:11,797
If I go to jail, I'll go
to jail with my head high.
1461
01:24:11,797 --> 01:24:12,923
I'll come out of jail
1462
01:24:12,923 --> 01:24:14,925
with my head 10 times higher than that.
1463
01:24:16,052 --> 01:24:17,928
- If you go to any Native territory
1464
01:24:17,928 --> 01:24:19,805
throughout North America,
1465
01:24:19,805 --> 01:24:22,516
and you ask if we're
guilty, we're not guilty,
1466
01:24:22,516 --> 01:24:24,060
and that's what counts.
1467
01:24:24,060 --> 01:24:28,064
As long as our people
feel that we're innocent,
1468
01:24:28,064 --> 01:24:29,648
then I'll go to jail
1469
01:24:31,400 --> 01:24:34,403
because while I'm in jail,
I know I'll have the support
1470
01:24:35,279 --> 01:24:37,823
of all Aboriginal people
throughout North America.
1471
01:24:40,409 --> 01:24:43,204
(chanting and percussion)
1472
01:24:54,090 --> 01:24:57,468
- You all know what we
all had to went through
1473
01:24:57,468 --> 01:24:59,595
over the years
1474
01:24:59,595 --> 01:25:01,847
when we had to talk about this land.
1475
01:25:03,099 --> 01:25:07,353
(speaking Mohawk)
1476
01:25:11,357 --> 01:25:16,362
This land we live on, this
earth is very pitiful now.
1477
01:25:17,113 --> 01:25:19,073
A lot of hurt has been happening here,
1478
01:25:19,073 --> 01:25:23,119
not only to us people, but to
the land, to the territories.
1479
01:25:24,453 --> 01:25:27,498
(speaking Mohawk)
1480
01:25:27,498 --> 01:25:30,126
This is all our concern,
1481
01:25:30,126 --> 01:25:33,379
all of us different tribes
1482
01:25:33,379 --> 01:25:34,880
on this earth.
1483
01:25:38,134 --> 01:25:40,261
We all only have one heart.
1484
01:25:41,637 --> 01:25:44,765
(chanting and percussion)
1485
01:26:10,624 --> 01:26:13,169
I give the Mohawk people,
1486
01:26:13,169 --> 01:26:15,296
the six nations of this territory
1487
01:26:15,296 --> 01:26:18,174
all the respect that I
could ever give them.
1488
01:26:18,174 --> 01:26:19,675
I can't do enough for them,
1489
01:26:21,051 --> 01:26:24,513
but to say I thank them
for opening my eyes
1490
01:26:24,513 --> 01:26:26,807
along with other nations across Canada.
1491
01:26:31,770 --> 01:26:32,938
- [filmmaker] The crisis was far
1492
01:26:32,938 --> 01:26:35,065
from being over in Kahnawake.
1493
01:26:35,941 --> 01:26:39,528
The police continued to
harass the people nonstop
1494
01:26:39,528 --> 01:26:41,447
for the next two years.
1495
01:26:41,822 --> 01:26:44,575
- When you came back to Kahnawake,
was the army still here?
1496
01:26:44,575 --> 01:26:45,534
- Oh yes. Oh yes.
1497
01:26:45,534 --> 01:26:47,328
They gave us a hard time
when we were coming back.
1498
01:26:47,328 --> 01:26:48,204
- What happened?
1499
01:26:49,455 --> 01:26:52,583
- Somewhere on Highway 30,
1500
01:26:52,583 --> 01:26:54,960
we had to show all our
stuff what we brought back,
1501
01:26:54,960 --> 01:26:57,213
all our birth certificate,
1502
01:26:57,213 --> 01:26:59,340
and what helped us out
was my birth certificate.
1503
01:26:59,340 --> 01:27:00,841
It's written that my father was at war.
1504
01:27:00,841 --> 01:27:02,676
The First World War.
1505
01:27:02,676 --> 01:27:04,970
That's the year I was born,
1506
01:27:04,970 --> 01:27:06,430
and then the Provincial police... he says,
1507
01:27:06,430 --> 01:27:08,557
"Okay, you can go."
1508
01:27:08,557 --> 01:27:12,937
We went maybe from here across the seaway.
1509
01:27:12,937 --> 01:27:14,855
There was another bunch
that we had to stop there.
1510
01:27:14,855 --> 01:27:18,734
We had to report again that,
you know, we were coming home.
1511
01:27:18,734 --> 01:27:20,236
Again, we were checked.
1512
01:27:20,236 --> 01:27:21,737
Below the Mercier Bridge.
1513
01:27:21,737 --> 01:27:23,739
Again, there was another bunch,
1514
01:27:23,739 --> 01:27:26,617
and there was about five
or six cars behind us.
1515
01:27:26,617 --> 01:27:27,743
We were all stopped.
1516
01:27:27,743 --> 01:27:30,371
We had to get out, checked
what we had in there,
1517
01:27:30,371 --> 01:27:33,874
and once we got in Kahnawake,
well, I made the sign
1518
01:27:33,874 --> 01:27:37,127
of the cross, and I thanked
God that I was back home.
1519
01:27:37,127 --> 01:27:39,964
- Every time you go out
of town, they harass you.
1520
01:27:39,964 --> 01:27:41,382
They pull you over, they check your trunk,
1521
01:27:41,382 --> 01:27:43,259
they check underneath your seats.
1522
01:27:43,259 --> 01:27:45,010
Even the cops... if your tire's low,
1523
01:27:45,010 --> 01:27:46,637
they give you a ticket for that,
1524
01:27:46,637 --> 01:27:48,597
and they search you,
1525
01:27:48,597 --> 01:27:51,725
your I.D., your car, everything.
1526
01:27:51,725 --> 01:27:53,352
Like two minutes later,
you're going back out.
1527
01:27:53,352 --> 01:27:55,396
They know it's you, they
search you, they do it again.
1528
01:27:55,980 --> 01:27:57,523
It's just harassment.
1529
01:27:57,523 --> 01:27:59,650
They had no business here after that.
1530
01:27:59,650 --> 01:28:02,611
If you're a Mohawk, you're in trouble.
1531
01:28:03,404 --> 01:28:06,031
- The primary law enforcement agency
1532
01:28:06,031 --> 01:28:08,367
in the territory of Kahnawake
1533
01:28:08,367 --> 01:28:10,035
is the Peacekeepers.
1534
01:28:10,035 --> 01:28:14,415
- One evening, we were
returning from St-Constant
1535
01:28:14,415 --> 01:28:17,042
where we had our motor vehicle repaired,
1536
01:28:18,377 --> 01:28:20,879
and Assistant Chief White and myself
1537
01:28:20,879 --> 01:28:22,798
had come into the first
checkpoint within the reserve,
1538
01:28:22,798 --> 01:28:25,551
and we're stopped by the military police
1539
01:28:25,551 --> 01:28:27,553
and asked to step out of our vehicles,
1540
01:28:27,553 --> 01:28:29,054
asked to put our hands over our head,
1541
01:28:29,054 --> 01:28:30,931
then we were advised we
were placed under arrest
1542
01:28:30,931 --> 01:28:34,518
for possession of unregistered,
restricted weapons.
1543
01:28:35,060 --> 01:28:36,895
Well, we've been carrying firearms
1544
01:28:36,895 --> 01:28:38,564
as a law enforcement agency
1545
01:28:38,564 --> 01:28:41,317
within Kahnawake for
approximately 20 years,
1546
01:28:41,317 --> 01:28:44,445
and we've never had a
problem until Monday.
1547
01:28:44,445 --> 01:28:46,196
- The Peacekeepers are going
to continue to function
1548
01:28:46,196 --> 01:28:48,324
as peace officers in the
community of Kahnawake.
1549
01:28:48,324 --> 01:28:49,450
They're going to continue to patrol
1550
01:28:49,450 --> 01:28:50,951
the community of Kahnawake.
1551
01:28:50,951 --> 01:28:52,286
They're going to continue to apprehend
1552
01:28:52,286 --> 01:28:54,038
offenders in the community of Kahnawake,
1553
01:28:54,038 --> 01:28:55,831
both Indian and non-Indian.
1554
01:28:55,831 --> 01:28:57,708
Anybody who comes into
the community who thinks
1555
01:28:57,708 --> 01:28:59,960
they can commit a criminal
infraction and get away with it
1556
01:28:59,960 --> 01:29:03,297
because of this possibility
of charges are sorely wrong.
1557
01:29:03,297 --> 01:29:07,801
I understand that the
decision to investigate
1558
01:29:07,801 --> 01:29:08,594
the possibility of laying charges
1559
01:29:08,594 --> 01:29:10,220
was made by the Provincial police.
1560
01:29:10,220 --> 01:29:14,975
- I hope the Surete decides
to be reasonable about this
1561
01:29:14,975 --> 01:29:17,436
because it can have a reciprocal effect.
1562
01:29:17,853 --> 01:29:20,856
- It is a very serious
problem because, you know,
1563
01:29:20,856 --> 01:29:23,609
whenever they want to do
something in Kahnawake,
1564
01:29:23,609 --> 01:29:26,320
they feel they can come and
they don't have to consult.
1565
01:29:27,363 --> 01:29:29,365
We have a legitimate police agreement
1566
01:29:29,365 --> 01:29:30,824
with the Federal Government
1567
01:29:30,824 --> 01:29:33,369
and Provincial Government
that says otherwise.
1568
01:29:33,535 --> 01:29:34,244
I think at that time,
1569
01:29:34,244 --> 01:29:37,873
we probably were the most
heavily policed community
1570
01:29:37,873 --> 01:29:39,750
you'd find anywhere in North America.
1571
01:29:45,506 --> 01:29:46,507
(sirens)
1572
01:29:46,507 --> 01:29:48,133
- We were living in Chateauguay,
1573
01:29:49,385 --> 01:29:51,637
and I was the president
of the school committee
1574
01:29:51,804 --> 01:29:53,013
of St. Willibrod School,
1575
01:29:54,014 --> 01:29:55,766
and they came out with the saying
1576
01:29:55,766 --> 01:29:58,143
that we better not let the
Mohawk children come back
1577
01:29:58,143 --> 01:30:00,979
right away because it's not safe for them,
1578
01:30:00,979 --> 01:30:04,149
and I decided to speak out, which I did,
1579
01:30:04,149 --> 01:30:06,235
and there was a meeting
of the school board.
1580
01:30:06,902 --> 01:30:09,154
We were in the French board at the time,
1581
01:30:09,154 --> 01:30:11,615
and I went prepared with two speeches,
1582
01:30:11,615 --> 01:30:13,283
one in French and one in English,
1583
01:30:14,243 --> 01:30:16,787
and I didn't even get a chance to start.
1584
01:30:18,539 --> 01:30:20,999
The hatred was fierce in the room.
1585
01:30:20,999 --> 01:30:24,795
People were attacking
the Gazette reporter.
1586
01:30:25,671 --> 01:30:27,881
They threw his phone across the room.
1587
01:30:27,881 --> 01:30:32,553
I felt very threatened and I
said, "Let's get out of here."
1588
01:30:32,553 --> 01:30:35,180
I know that hatred is evil,
1589
01:30:35,180 --> 01:30:37,683
and I don't care if it
comes out of a white man,
1590
01:30:37,683 --> 01:30:40,185
a red man, a black man... it affects us.
1591
01:30:42,062 --> 01:30:44,523
- I kept them in French school,
but I sent them to Lachine
1592
01:30:44,523 --> 01:30:47,443
because there was just too
much trouble in Chateauguay,
1593
01:30:47,443 --> 01:30:49,445
and it was...
1594
01:30:49,445 --> 01:30:50,446
they started late.
1595
01:30:50,446 --> 01:30:51,447
They didn't let them start
1596
01:30:51,447 --> 01:30:53,907
at the beginning of the school year.
1597
01:30:53,907 --> 01:30:55,576
They had a corn party the first day,
1598
01:30:55,576 --> 01:30:57,161
but our children weren't invited.
1599
01:30:57,161 --> 01:30:59,663
They were thinking of
protecting our children
1600
01:31:01,457 --> 01:31:03,959
'cause the English teacher
asked why. She says,
1601
01:31:03,959 --> 01:31:07,296
"You have... you're having
a corn party," she says,
1602
01:31:07,296 --> 01:31:09,173
"and it was the Indians
that gave you corn,"
1603
01:31:09,173 --> 01:31:11,550
and she says, "All of the Indian children
1604
01:31:11,550 --> 01:31:12,801
are not in school."
1605
01:32:32,381 --> 01:32:33,924
- I went to summer drama camp,
1606
01:32:33,924 --> 01:32:38,178
and we learned how to make,
like, a box... like a stage.
1607
01:32:38,178 --> 01:32:40,430
This is my school, St. Willibrord.
1608
01:32:40,430 --> 01:32:43,308
This is our schoolyard,
1609
01:32:43,308 --> 01:32:46,395
and we're doing the round
dance, the four people,
1610
01:32:46,395 --> 01:32:51,400
and this is me. There's
a few kids in my class:
1611
01:32:51,567 --> 01:32:56,530
Amy, Amanda, and Julie.
They were interested
1612
01:32:56,697 --> 01:33:00,450
in Indians, and I showed
them the round dance,
1613
01:33:00,450 --> 01:33:03,328
and there's about three
Indians in our class,
1614
01:33:03,328 --> 01:33:06,456
and we, like, do a few dances,
1615
01:33:06,456 --> 01:33:10,294
and then James and them...
James, Danny, and Brock...
1616
01:33:10,294 --> 01:33:11,420
they make fun of us
1617
01:33:11,420 --> 01:33:13,088
because, like, it's different.
1618
01:33:15,841 --> 01:33:17,551
- So Heavenly Father, as this smoke rises,
1619
01:33:17,551 --> 01:33:19,469
we ask you to send your holy spirit,
1620
01:33:19,469 --> 01:33:22,973
your great spirit to
look upon and bless it.
1621
01:33:22,973 --> 01:33:25,851
Purify the fire and purify this feather
1622
01:33:25,851 --> 01:33:28,812
that we will be using tonight, as we share
1623
01:33:28,812 --> 01:33:30,063
one another.
1624
01:33:30,063 --> 01:33:34,359
Purify the circle to
strike out against another.
1625
01:33:34,359 --> 01:33:36,486
- I participated in a few healing circles.
1626
01:33:37,988 --> 01:33:41,867
- Grandfather, Great Spirit,
Jesus Christ, Gitche Manitou,
1627
01:33:41,867 --> 01:33:43,952
and all the many names
that we address you with.
1628
01:33:43,952 --> 01:33:45,621
- I went to a sweat lodge.
1629
01:33:46,622 --> 01:33:47,497
I'm just...
1630
01:33:48,874 --> 01:33:50,584
I'm still in search, you know,
1631
01:33:51,877 --> 01:33:55,380
but I've come a long way
from where I was.
1632
01:33:56,131 --> 01:33:58,008
- In 1990, that summer
that many of us remember
1633
01:33:58,008 --> 01:34:02,763
in different ways...
it is good to recall it
1634
01:34:04,473 --> 01:34:08,393
because like any healing,
when we're wounded,
1635
01:34:08,393 --> 01:34:12,147
and unless the wound is cleansed deeply
1636
01:34:12,147 --> 01:34:15,400
and profoundly, the infection
will continue to fester.
1637
01:34:16,109 --> 01:34:17,778
- And the circle is really...
1638
01:34:20,739 --> 01:34:22,115
really working, I think, Ron
1639
01:34:22,115 --> 01:34:24,284
because we've all come together and...
1640
01:34:24,284 --> 01:34:26,787
sit with the non-Native
brothers and sisters,
1641
01:34:26,787 --> 01:34:28,038
and we're all working together,
1642
01:34:28,038 --> 01:34:30,540
and leaving our hurts here.
1643
01:34:30,540 --> 01:34:33,418
- My main attitude was
that of indifference,
1644
01:34:33,418 --> 01:34:36,129
making jokes about the Warriors
1645
01:34:36,129 --> 01:34:37,547
and about the masks and all this,
1646
01:34:37,547 --> 01:34:40,926
and as men generally do, we like to kid
1647
01:34:40,926 --> 01:34:43,804
and make jokes about
things we don't understand
1648
01:34:43,804 --> 01:34:46,264
and things over which we have no control,
1649
01:34:47,182 --> 01:34:49,393
and it was that ignorance
1650
01:34:49,393 --> 01:34:54,398
and that lack of control that
was really controlling us.
1651
01:34:56,191 --> 01:34:59,569
We got to meet these people,
and they became friends.
1652
01:34:59,569 --> 01:35:01,154
They became brothers.
1653
01:35:01,154 --> 01:35:04,157
We needed healing, the
healing of our indifference
1654
01:35:04,157 --> 01:35:05,951
because we started to care.
1655
01:35:05,951 --> 01:35:09,955
- I had in my classes so
many children from Kahnawake.
1656
01:35:09,955 --> 01:35:13,333
I felt... after the crisis was over...
1657
01:35:14,334 --> 01:35:17,462
I felt it was important to do something,
1658
01:35:17,462 --> 01:35:21,341
and if I could help build
bridges of reconciliation
1659
01:35:21,341 --> 01:35:23,552
between Chateauguay and Kahnawake,
1660
01:35:23,552 --> 01:35:26,346
then that was what I wanted to do,
1661
01:35:26,346 --> 01:35:32,102
and I enjoyed a feeling of family here
1662
01:35:33,311 --> 01:35:37,357
in this healing circle
that I had never known.
1663
01:35:47,576 --> 01:35:51,621
- We didn't open many stores
in 1990, '91, '92, '93.
1664
01:35:51,621 --> 01:35:56,585
It was the lowest development
years in the province.
1665
01:35:57,002 --> 01:35:58,754
We had a crisis then,
1666
01:35:58,754 --> 01:35:59,880
but it's improving now.
1667
01:36:03,008 --> 01:36:05,135
The majority of the citizens
of Chateauguay are pleased
1668
01:36:05,135 --> 01:36:08,346
with what's going on between
Chateauguay and Kahnawake.
1669
01:36:08,346 --> 01:36:09,473
- There was a long period of time
1670
01:36:09,473 --> 01:36:14,478
before I even wanted to go back
and give any of my business
1671
01:36:14,853 --> 01:36:19,858
or associate with anything
to do with Chateauguay,
1672
01:36:20,108 --> 01:36:25,405
so even now, it's a very
thin layer of tolerance
1673
01:36:25,906 --> 01:36:29,159
that's still there, and
probably you'd peel that back
1674
01:36:29,159 --> 01:36:33,622
if there was... any kind of
a situation was to occur...
1675
01:36:33,622 --> 01:36:35,916
very quickly that thing
would flare back up.
1676
01:36:39,503 --> 01:36:42,047
(gentle music)
1677
01:36:42,047 --> 01:36:44,132
They say time heals things.
1678
01:36:44,132 --> 01:36:46,301
Yes, it does to a certain extent,
1679
01:36:46,301 --> 01:36:49,763
but I think the underlying
problems are still...
1680
01:36:49,763 --> 01:36:51,056
haven't been addressed there.
1681
01:36:52,307 --> 01:36:56,937
- Now had not the Mohawk
land been as important,
1682
01:36:56,937 --> 01:36:59,189
then we would have not done that.
1683
01:36:59,189 --> 01:37:00,690
As a result of it,
1684
01:37:00,690 --> 01:37:03,693
our community has been
economically devastated.
1685
01:37:11,952 --> 01:37:15,956
- So the first time I went
back, which was to actually go
1686
01:37:15,956 --> 01:37:18,208
and shop there, was maybe a year later,
1687
01:37:19,793 --> 01:37:23,171
and I felt very uncomfortable.
1688
01:37:23,171 --> 01:37:26,091
I thought people were
looking at me, you know.
1689
01:37:26,091 --> 01:37:28,844
I guess we'll never forget
it. It'll always be there.
1690
01:37:30,178 --> 01:37:31,721
- One time, I went at Zellers,
1691
01:37:33,056 --> 01:37:36,101
"Ah, these people!" (speaking French)
1692
01:37:37,477 --> 01:37:38,854
That's...
1693
01:37:38,854 --> 01:37:41,106
Then my daughter Mona, she says, "Hey."
1694
01:37:41,106 --> 01:37:42,858
She says, "We're not savages."
1695
01:37:42,858 --> 01:37:46,486
She says, "It's the people that
throw stones at my mother...
1696
01:37:46,486 --> 01:37:48,572
they're the savages."
1697
01:37:48,572 --> 01:37:50,740
So anyways, that stopped.
1698
01:37:50,740 --> 01:37:54,369
The manager, I think, came
and he told them to stop,
1699
01:37:55,871 --> 01:37:57,873
so we didn't even buy nothing that day.
1700
01:37:57,873 --> 01:37:59,875
We came back out, and we went home.
1701
01:38:00,750 --> 01:38:02,961
- I find people are still staring at you.
1702
01:38:03,378 --> 01:38:06,381
- Here, but look at this one.
You always liked big glasses.
1703
01:38:06,381 --> 01:38:08,008
- Let me check further down.
1704
01:38:08,008 --> 01:38:09,759
- I try. I try...
1705
01:38:12,512 --> 01:38:15,849
to remember the ones that helped.
1706
01:38:19,352 --> 01:38:22,147
- If we want to improve relations,
1707
01:38:23,023 --> 01:38:25,525
we can't look back all the time.
1708
01:38:25,525 --> 01:38:26,776
We have to look forward.
1709
01:38:27,611 --> 01:38:32,908
We may not forget, but we have
the obligation to forgive.
1710
01:38:33,783 --> 01:38:34,743
On both sides.
1711
01:38:36,036 --> 01:38:40,040
- I know people like to think
about forgive and forget,
1712
01:38:40,040 --> 01:38:42,042
you know, and let's not bring up the past.
1713
01:38:42,042 --> 01:38:45,670
Whether it's good or bad, it
had a beginning somewhere.
1714
01:38:45,670 --> 01:38:47,422
There's a cause for it.
1715
01:38:47,422 --> 01:38:50,300
It's always necessary to look back in time
1716
01:38:50,300 --> 01:38:53,053
at what has created a situation.
1717
01:38:53,053 --> 01:38:57,057
Why are people doing things at that point?
1718
01:38:57,933 --> 01:39:00,518
Why are there difficulties?
Why is it so difficult
1719
01:39:00,518 --> 01:39:03,188
to live in the province
of Quebec, you know?
1720
01:39:03,188 --> 01:39:06,942
And why is it that much more
difficult for Native people
1721
01:39:06,942 --> 01:39:11,321
and, in this instance,
Mohawk people, Kahnawake...
1722
01:39:12,530 --> 01:39:15,325
to have a relationship
with their neighbors?
1723
01:39:18,662 --> 01:39:23,166
- The land issue is
something beyond my capacity.
1724
01:39:23,166 --> 01:39:25,710
I understand the situation,
but I cannot resolve it.
1725
01:39:27,170 --> 01:39:28,797
- We look at the world around us,
1726
01:39:28,797 --> 01:39:32,842
and there's not many great
things to look at, you know.
1727
01:39:32,842 --> 01:39:37,847
We see disparity, wars going
on, oppression, you know,
1728
01:39:38,098 --> 01:39:39,724
violation of human rights.
1729
01:39:39,724 --> 01:39:41,601
There's a lot of negativity.
1730
01:39:45,063 --> 01:39:47,190
It's very rewarding because you see them
1731
01:39:47,190 --> 01:39:48,942
developing physically,
1732
01:39:48,942 --> 01:39:51,111
you see them developing spiritually,
1733
01:39:51,111 --> 01:39:53,321
and you see them developing mentally,
1734
01:39:53,321 --> 01:39:56,241
and when you see a
being develop like that,
1735
01:39:56,241 --> 01:39:58,326
it's pretty hard to intimidate them,
1736
01:39:58,326 --> 01:40:01,454
to make them walk off a good path.
1737
01:40:02,330 --> 01:40:04,374
Beautiful. Beautiful.
1738
01:40:05,500 --> 01:40:07,127
- For our future generations,
1739
01:40:07,127 --> 01:40:09,379
well, we gotta think of our
little kids that are growing up,
1740
01:40:09,379 --> 01:40:12,257
that are coming up and, you know...
1741
01:40:12,257 --> 01:40:15,093
to take care of whatever we
have left on the reserve.
1742
01:40:16,094 --> 01:40:19,347
(speaking Mohawk)
1743
01:40:26,396 --> 01:40:31,735
- The 78 days that we
were home on the land,
1744
01:40:32,277 --> 01:40:37,157
the peace that was there,
just to be unified,
1745
01:40:37,157 --> 01:40:40,285
will help us to always remember
1746
01:40:40,285 --> 01:40:42,412
the seven generations that follows,
1747
01:40:43,413 --> 01:40:45,874
from the unborn that's coming yet.
1748
01:40:45,874 --> 01:40:47,542
In our language, they
would turn around and say,
1749
01:40:47,542 --> 01:40:48,793
(speaking Mohawk)
1750
01:40:48,793 --> 01:40:50,920
"Their faces are not here,
they're coming though."
1751
01:40:52,297 --> 01:40:56,176
Mother Earth gave us life, just
like a woman will give life,
1752
01:40:56,176 --> 01:41:00,805
and each generation anew
will bring happiness and joy,
1753
01:41:00,805 --> 01:41:04,434
and that will be the most
beautiful that we can live,
1754
01:41:04,434 --> 01:41:06,436
but we need to work together,
1755
01:41:07,812 --> 01:41:11,024
not just my people, but
the people of the world.
1756
01:41:13,651 --> 01:41:16,905
(gentle music)
1757
01:41:40,470 --> 01:41:43,306
- That we don't have to go
to the Canadian Government
1758
01:41:43,306 --> 01:41:44,974
and ask for our sovereignty.
1759
01:41:46,226 --> 01:41:48,228
That we don't have to go
to the Canadian Government
1760
01:41:48,228 --> 01:41:52,357
and ask for our rights
to be self-determining.
1761
01:41:52,357 --> 01:41:53,358
We have those.
1762
01:41:55,110 --> 01:41:57,237
They're inside of our hearts.
1763
01:41:57,237 --> 01:41:58,738
They're in our beliefs.
1764
01:42:00,365 --> 01:42:02,700
We have to ensure that those rights
1765
01:42:02,700 --> 01:42:05,120
continue to exist into the future,
1766
01:42:05,120 --> 01:42:06,621
so that our children do not have
1767
01:42:06,621 --> 01:42:08,456
to go through that kind of struggle,
1768
01:42:10,125 --> 01:42:13,628
so that they will enjoy
the peace and the respect
1769
01:42:13,628 --> 01:42:16,089
and the honor of being Onkwehonwe.
1770
01:42:18,758 --> 01:42:23,138
So I ask you, all of you, to
keep your commitment strong,
1771
01:42:24,097 --> 01:42:27,016
to keep your prayers strong,
1772
01:42:27,016 --> 01:42:31,604
and I ask all of you to begin
to work in your communities,
1773
01:42:31,604 --> 01:42:35,608
to begin building your
nations, build your Government,
1774
01:42:35,608 --> 01:42:37,652
build your people,
1775
01:42:39,154 --> 01:42:41,114
demonstrate and respect and honor
1776
01:42:42,031 --> 01:42:45,869
that these people had made
a commitment over 75 days.
1777
01:42:45,869 --> 01:42:46,911
Always remember them.
1778
01:42:49,164 --> 01:42:52,167
- [filmmaker] To have the
treaties respected and recognized
1779
01:42:52,167 --> 01:42:56,421
by the Government and its
citizens has always been
1780
01:42:56,421 --> 01:42:59,674
a struggle for all
Aboriginal people in Canada.
1781
01:43:01,509 --> 01:43:04,679
(somber music)
1782
01:43:04,679 --> 01:43:09,058
The experience of treachery
and loss is their history.
1783
01:43:23,907 --> 01:43:28,828
The 1990 stand by the Mohawks
of Kahnawake and Kanehsatake,
1784
01:43:28,828 --> 01:43:30,205
was not in vain.
1785
01:43:32,207 --> 01:43:35,835
Negotiations on land
rights and self-management
1786
01:43:35,835 --> 01:43:38,087
have been going on with
the Federal Government
1787
01:43:38,087 --> 01:43:40,340
and several nations across the country.
1788
01:43:42,800 --> 01:43:46,846
This time, the Aboriginal
people must be certain
1789
01:43:46,846 --> 01:43:51,851
that any agreement will be
best, not only for the present,
1790
01:43:52,185 --> 01:43:55,104
but also for future generations.
1791
01:43:56,481 --> 01:43:59,108
(hopeful music)
133184
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