The Russian Roulette and In the Name of God scenario packs were originally part of a much larger work called Phoenix Command: Low Intensity Conflict, which included scenarios from a number of wars raging in 1990-91, including Canada, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, and Liberia, in addition to the scenario packs on Russia and Israel. 

 

In 1990, Canada came to the brink of a civil war. A small Quebec town's bid to develop a golf course on the land of a Mohawk Indian reservation led to blockades of two Mohawk reservations and an armed standoff between a group called the Mohawk Warriors and the Canadian Army. The blockade resulted in sympathy blockades and fears of violence spreading across the entire nation. This scenario pack includes a series of scenarios that highlighted different facets of the conflict, from Warriors fighting for sovereignty, to Police seeking to keep the peace, to the Canadian Armed Forces blending their traditions as soldiers and peacekeepers to keep the conflict from spinning into violence.  

 

INTRODUCTION

The Oka Cirsis started when the small Quebec town of Oka wanted to expand their golf course and build a private housing pro­ject. The land slated for these developments was titled to the town, but the Mohawks of the Kanasetake reserve bordering Oka claimed the land was sacred to them and part of an outstanding land claim. 

On March 11, 1990, the Mohawk Warrior society erected dirt and log barricades to their reserve and the disputed land. Court challenges and mediation followed until July 11, when Oka Mayor Jean Ouellette ordered the ”Surete du Quebec” (SQ) to take down the barricade. The SQ used tear gas, stun grenades, and assault rifles in a disastrous assault which ended with SQ Cpl. Marcel Lemay dead. The assault inflamed the situation and led to the Mohawks of the Kahnawake reserve barricading the Mercier bridge in sympathy for the Oka Mohawks, thus cutting off access between the South Shore and Montreal. A siege ensued with food and medicines being withheld from the reserves for awhile.

Racial tensions rose in the weeks that followed, with Royal Canadian Mounted Police and SQ contending with mobs of rioting whites in Chateauguay. 

On August 17, Canadian Army troops replaced SQ and RCMP units at the barricades at the request of Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa. The standoff continued until late September, when Canadian Army personnel and Mohawk Warriors cooperated in dismantling the barricades on August 29. Although rioting incidents between Mohawk civilians and Canadian Forces did occur and the white riots continued, the removal of barricades was peaceful. 

After the barricades were removed, some Mohawk Warriors who had been manning the barricades retreated to the Oka Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Treatment Centre (TC), where they continued the standoff behind an ever-closing circle of Canadian Forces razor wire. 

Finally, on September 27, the holdout Warriors in Oka turned themselves over to Army custody. The crisis was over.

Since that time, the Mohawk Warriors which were taken into custody have come up for trial on various riot and weapons charges. There was another flare-up of tensions at Oka in January 1991 when police attempted to charge a Mohawk with speeding—the result was a riot involving 100 Mohawks and police.

In the end, the crisis was not about the disputed lands, for the Federal Government had purchased the lands and turned them over to the Kanesatake reserve on August 31. Instead, the issue was about the apathy of the Canadian governments to the plight of the Native people of Canada in both racial and economic terms.

For many natives, life has been a cycle of racism, poverty, and deplorable treatment by Canadian institutions where their land, their culture, and they themselves were subject to being wiped out. The Kanesatake natives chose to fight back. But they were also fighting for something many natives desire: sovereignty.  For many natives, this means being treated as distinct nations within or in partnership with Canada as a whole. Sovereignty is seen as the way in which natives can preserve their land, culture, and themselves. 

Out of the crisis came the claims that the Canadian governments had shaken off their apathy. As for whether the new attitude of the governments will produce positive effects remains to be seen.

As a final note, the crisis itself was as much a public relations contest as it was a military confrontation. The Warriors used cellular phones and fax machines along with regular press conferences in order to brief the media, while the military used professional videotapes and hindered press access to blockaded reserves. Both sides recognized that the sympathy of the Canadian people was essential for a political victory. For this reason, both sides were reluctant to actually start shooting, as the aggressor would lose public sympathy, and thus lose the war. 

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