Dir. Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
2022- 22’
In English
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On March 9, 1990 the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke erected a barricade on a small dirt road to stop the expansion of the 9 hole Oka Golf club which included condominium development. After 4 months the government and investors became increasingly impatient to dismantle the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) barricades. On July 11th, 1990 at 5:15 a.m., a SWAT team arrived to purportedly dismantle the barricades.
As discussed and agreed upon at many community meetings, the women were to go to the front to speak with police when they arrived. The people at the barricade had thought that they would be arrested. Instead, after 3 hours of negotiating with police, they opened fire on the people in the pines.
The Kanien’kehá:ka community of Kahnawake, in support of their sister community in Kanehsatà:ke and to prevent a second attack, blocked the Mercier Bridge. A major artery of traffic from the south shore to Montreal became the focus of negotiation that long hot Summer. What was quickly forgotten was the role of women in Kanien’kehá:ka culture to protect the land and the role of the men to protect the land.
This is a story of 3 centuries of a land struggle culminating in one day, July 11th, 1990 in Kanehsatà:ke, the oldest existing community of the Kanien’kehá:ka nation.
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A conversation with Dir. Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel will follow the screening.
KANATÉNHS: When the Pine Needles Fall
Dir. Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel
2022- 22’
In English
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On March 9, 1990 the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke erected a barricade on a small dirt road to stop the expansion of the 9 hole Oka Golf club which included condominium development. After 4 months the government and investors became increasingly impatient to dismantle the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) barricades. On July 11th, 1990 at 5:15 a.m., a SWAT team arrived to purportedly dismantle the barricades.
As discussed and agreed upon at many community meetings, the women were to go to the front to speak with police when they arrived. The people at the barricade had thought that they would be arrested. Instead, after 3 hours of negotiating with police, they opened fire on the people in the pines.
The Kanien’kehá:ka community of Kahnawake, in support of their sister community in Kanehsatà:ke and to prevent a second attack, blocked the Mercier Bridge. A major artery of traffic from the south shore to Montreal became the focus of negotiation that long hot Summer. What was quickly forgotten was the role of women in Kanien’kehá:ka culture to protect the land and the role of the men to protect the land.
This is a story of 3 centuries of a land struggle culminating in one day, July 11th, 1990 in Kanehsatà:ke, the oldest existing community of the Kanien’kehá:ka nation.
---
A conversation with Dir. Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel will follow the screening.