How can being tied to a culture be detrimental to a person?
Is it the governments fault? the aboriginals? or both?
We all grow up with different interests some that may seem normal to others, or some that may seem weird just because that not the way we were raised. Obviously things were different many years ago and things change, but for the Mohawks keeping things close to the way they were before is how they felt it should be done. But unfortunately this was seen as wrong by many people including the Canadian government. This caused a huge controversy which began on July 11th 1990 and went on for 78 days. This started because the town of Oka wanted to expand a golf course on to the land of the Mohawk people. Most people would think okay it's just a little bit of land what's the matter, but for the Mohawks it was more than just a little bit of land. The problem was the government had treaties that stated this was aboriginal land and was to be untouched. So was the government essentially breaking their own laws ? For the Mohawk people this land means so much more to them than most people think because it helps them stay in touch with the past and their culture, but this ended up being seriously detrimental to the Mohawk people. There town was raided people were being hit,attacked, stabbed anything to get them off the land. “Surrender or else” was the words of the words of the government all because the aboriginal people closed the bridge. All of these threats just because there land or culture does not seem important to the Canadian government. This can even relate way back to residential schools, these kids were just taken from there families because of how they were raised or what their beliefs were. This is a 
great example of how them being tied to their culture could be detrimental, but can they be blamed for all of it? There culture is seen as wrong by so many people just because they are different. But another way that it can not only be detrimental to one person but even a whole community is the fact that they can have parts of their culture with them but not on the reserve. The fact is that the first nations reserves we have around Canada are horrible, the houses are tiny, there are no stores, everything is so expensive and it’s just not somewhere anyone should deserve to live. There is just a point where the first nations should be able to make the decision where a healthy lifestyle should be more important than your culture. Overall you can see that it is a mix of problems from the government, but also the aboriginals are apart of the problem as well. Both sides have ways that they can improve the situation, but it's gonna take cooperation from both of them to fix it.
I agree Jack. The Mohawk people cannot and should not be blamed for the crisis just because they have different beliefs and cultural standards. Their culture is seen as terrible by others, but right to them. Also, the Mohawk and First Nation's reserves are horrible places to live, and as other societies and cultures take away land, they get worse and worse. In my blog, I talked about people who were caught in the middle of the Oka Crisis. These people are torn between the two cultures, and as a result, as you said, they end up being hurt if they stay on the land. In what ways can both sides improve the situation? Wont there always be tension? Because in the end, the council and the town of Oka did really steal land from the Mohawk peoples and build a golf course on what was their burial grounds. So, are we justified for stealing their sacred land to provide a better leisure activity for the town? Yes, the First Nations people live in horrible conditions but what can be done to fix that if they do not want help from the people who have taken their lands? Wont they think something like the Oka Crisis will happen again?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas Jack. The way the Canadian Government treated the Mohawk people was wrong and this was the wrong way to go about solving this problem. But the government has in fact been doing this for hundreds of years. I liked how you relate this closely to residential schools and how they impacted the families of the aboriginal peoples. The way the Canadian government goes about resolving issues with aboriginals is wrong and it leads to conflict throughout the community. Which proves that being tied to a culture can be detrimental to a person. The government doesn’t respect the culture and the beliefs that aboriginals have and so it leaves them in danger. The fact that a death came out of a resistance to expanding a golf course just goes to show the negative impacts an event like this can have on a country. In my blog I stated how culture can help an individual, but reading your blog makes me realize the downfalls of it too. The amount of people hurt in this event, emotionally and physically shows that something needs to change, but will it ever? Events like this have been going on for hundreds of years and nothing has been done about it.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed your blog on how being tied to a culture can be detrimental to individuals. I believe that what the Canadian government did to the Mohawk culture, trying to take their land for the citizens personal use was not right and no one should have to suffer such actions. I like how you could connect this to other actions the Native cultures have experienced such as the residential schools and being separated from their families so young. I feel that the way the police had stormed into the Mohawk territories was not a fair and smart way to handle the conflict the Natives and government were experiencing. The government does not respect the culture that had founded this land relating to the fighting and deaths that had happened during combat. Just like how the government tried to push the Mohawk culture off the land, in my blog I had mentioned how the government had done something similar by pushing natives off their land and flooding them to live on just an island. In my blog I wrote how being tied to a culture was beneficial but after reading your blog it shows me that there are true benefits and deficits to being tied to a culture. I believe that individuals of all cultures should stand tall and fight for their rights.
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