How Being Tied to a Culture Can Be Detrimental to an Individual

The OKA Crisis

How being tied to a culture can be detrimental to an individual:

The OKA crisis is referring to when the Canadian Government fought for a piece of First Nations 

land to turn it into a golf course. This obviously did not sit well with the Mohawk people and during protests to try and claim the land as their own, many people were hurt, charged and one elder killed. This isn't the first time the Canadian Government targeted indigenous people, for example residential schools were schools designed to take native children from their homes and strip the native culture and beliefs out of them. Residential schools, just like the Oka crisis, shows how being part of a culture can be detrimental because if you were native, you were targeted. The Oka crisis shows how being tied to a culture can be detrimental because all the Mohawk people were doing was fighting for the land that has been a part of their culture for centuries, and what occurred was 100 criminal charges, 75+ injuries and a death. Being part of a culture can also be beneficial because the Oka crisis also showed how powerful it can be if you stand up for what you believe in. Being tied to a culture ultimately is detrimental to the Mohawk people and Native Canadians as a whole because it makes you a target. This is evident when some Mohawk people that were trying to get away from the madness of the protest had large rocks thrown at their vehicles when trying to cross freedom bridge while law enforcement stood back and did nothing.