I believe being tied to a culture CAN be detrimental to a person, and the Oka Crisis is a good example of this. The Crisis demonstrates how a person's culture and beliefs can be torn apart by something as simple as a dispute over a parcel of land.
The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990 and lasted 78 days until September 26, 1990. The dispute was a violent conflict between First Nations and the Canadian Government over a piece of First Nation's land that was to be developed into a golf course. The tribe protecting the land rebelled and fought back to try to prevent their land from being taken away.
However, in the end, the Mohawk people lost their land after a standoff with local authorities. The loss of their land impacted the way they were seen by Canadians, and it was a personal and detrimental loss in terms of their culture. In regards to a person in the Mohawk culture, the loss of land is like a loss of a piece of their culture, that they will have to live without for the rest of their lives. On the other hand, in some ways, the Oka Crisis also had a positive impact on First Nations people because it inspired them to speak out and acted as a movement toward change and equality.
The Oka Crisis not only had impacts on Mohawk society and the town of Oka, but it also had detrimental effects on individuals who were on neither side of the dispute. These individuals were torn between the two cultures, the French Canadians and the Mohawk people, and because of this, they were likely to be hurt. An example of a person in this circumstance is Sonia Bonspille-Boileau, the Mohawk filmmaker who had a French Canadian father and a Mohawk mother. Sonia felt as though she was torn between the two cultures and asked to choose a side. “I grew up smack in the middle of two worlds. My father is a Quebecois from Oka and my mother is Mohawk. I never really felt as though I was caught between two worlds until the media slammed it in my face during the Oka Crisis of 1990. It's as if I was asked to choose one side and hate the other” (Sonia Bonspille-boileau in 8th fire, CBC). Sonia recalls the time of the Oka Crisis when her mother and father were on opposing sides and she was forced to pick between them. Her mother and father, each tied to their own cultures, were unable to come together as a family because of the different beliefs within the cultures, which was ultimately detrimental to Sonia as she herself has expressed.
In conclusion, I believe that being tied to a culture does impact people and their daily lives in both good and bad ways. The Oka Crisis is one example of how being tied to a culture can have detrimental effects, although there are many more events and stories, similar to Sonia’s, that show how a person’s culture is detrimental to them.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=sonia+bonspille+boileau&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi6rrbosffaAhVJpFkKHcx9CAsQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=974#imgrc=o-4teJj_z-LYiM:
Link to Sonia’s story
Oka Crisis
https://www.google.ca/search?q=oka+crisis&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsyK-ssvfaAhVSwVkKHYWKCiIQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=974#imgdii=b8sep9uSvlsVpM:&imgrc=gBycLs0vA0fTWM:
I agree with your points myles, especially the one talking about how the war not only affected people apart of it but how it put a big hole in the town of oca for a long time and it will still never be the same. But it is strange to think about that how if the town got its way and was just able to expand the golf course without even caring about how the aboriginals felt about it, things might be way worse today than they already are. But this Crisis that happened and many other things that have happened, the government and people of society could use these events as learning experiences on ways we can improve our relationship with them. It could go both ways, what do you think would happen if one day the aboriginals just decided hey is this your property well i think i'm going to build something on it and call it my own. It could go both ways but overall I totally agree, but to add on the fact that people had to use a different last name to get treated respectfully is just a little ridiculous people should never have to lie about their culture just to be treated with respect.
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