Army Gun Butting Mohawks on Tekakwitha Island © Linda Dawn Hammond 1990 Oka17_4

Army Invasion and teargassing of Kahnawake, a Canadian Mohawk reserve in Quebec. Sept.18, 1990. Photo © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com '90/

 

Photographs and text by Linda Dawn Hammond

Behind The Barricades: OKA

 

Army gun butting Mohawks. The army have just teargassed the bridge leading to the community centre on Tekakwitha Island. The raid resulted in the seizure of one hunting gun and a few cases of contraband BEER from the clubhouse- a pretty expensive manoeuvre for... what?

 

Just my luck, in the midst of the tear gas and stone throwing, and people running frantically on the bridge, I hit the end of my roll and had to change film, which required opening the camera back. Those subsequent negatives were affected strangely by the tear gas chemicals- almost unprintable at the time, and when I checked 10 years later, in steady decline. This photo survived because its 35mm negative was made into a 4 by 5 copy neg when it was prepared for publication in a book by Arthur Kroker in 1991. The original negative has almost faded away since. Other photos taken that day and processed in the same batch did not experience this disintegration, so I shall assume it was caused by the tear gas and not faulty fix. Thank you, Photoshop, for your digital magic. I've managed to clean up some impossible damage and present photos in this set which I've never shown before.

 

(I wonder what kind of experiences photographers have had with digital cameras in tear gas- I find even in heavy mist, such as Niagara falls, digitals have trouble focusing and I had to have my sensor cleaned professionally afterwards as moisture had entered the camera. I can't imagine it would fare well under tear gas... someone suggested a waterproof case for those conditions.)

By pure chance, I was already in Kahnawake when the Army raid began. Two First Nations protesters from the Peace Camp outside of Oka had showed up at my door in Montreal. They were from Manitoba and Saskatchewan and had travelled to Quebec in support of the Mohawks. They had liked a sweatshirt I had been wearing when I met them while photographing the Peace Camp, which depicted a Mohawk warrior breaking golf clubs over his head, and upon learning it originated from Kanehwake, wanted to go there and buy some as souvenirs. I agreed to go with them. We drove in a pick-up truck and they spent a couple of hours buying t-shirts, trying to get money transferred from their respective reserves, and taking tourist photos of themselves wearing masks and posing beside bullet riddled signs. We had just passed through the Mohawk manned barrier on our return back to Montreal, and were approaching the SQ barrier when we heard the frantic cry from the Mohawks that the army were attacking the reserve. They’d airlifted in troops. We were fortunate that we could reverse and return to the Mohawk side- a few moments later and I doubt the SQ would have allowed us re-entry. Perhaps me, as I had a special issued media pass, but likely not my mocassin wearing driver and his companion. As we approached the bridge, we could see tear gas and Mohawk locals running on it towards the Island. At this point I became separated from the two men. I was one of only two media and non-locals present on the Bridge, and he was holding a film camera and not venturing on the bridge itself. On the bridge it was intense. The tear gas was thick, I could see swarms of army soldiers with guns on the Island, and people around me were starting to pick up rocks. I was at one point surrounded by a group of frantic and angry women, who shouted at me,

 

"YOU GO BACK TO YOUR PEOPLE AND YOU SHOW THEM, YOU TELL THEM WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO US!!!"

 

I have rarely felt so acutely "Other," and while I admit I would not have readily identified many of the people on the bridge with me as being of First Nations origin, it was evident to them that I was NOT. I looked across the water towards the Island, at what were allegedly "MY people"- the Army, resembling an invading mass of locusts with guns, advancing through a cloud of acrid smoke, (the gas masks made them appear decidedly insect-like) and I shouted back in all sincerity,

 

"They're NOT MY PEOPLE! MY people wouldn't do something like this!"

 

I thought, it doesn't matter what you stand for, what you believe in, what you strive towards all of your life. Racism erases all of that. It reduces you to the colour of your skin or assumed heritage, and so you are judged. We all are. I wondered it THEY (the army) recognized me at that moment as one of THEIR people. Not likely. I had just been targeted by the Montreal police that same summer for my role as the photographer in the SexGarage incident (see my other set), been beaten twice, threatened and arrested in a demo against police violence, and then falsely accused of “Conspiracy to Commit armed robbery’ as a method of intimidation (dropped of course) so was not feeling particularly aligned with the military at that moment. As a matter of fact, I had decided I was safer behind the Mohawk barricade than I was in Montreal at present.

 

What followed were 2 more tense stand-offs between the army and the Mohawk community, during which time droves of media arrived, several expressing surprise and some suspicious that I was already there. I found my two companions briefly in the melee, then lost them again as I photographed. At one point, the army tried to draw the media over to their side with the promise of an exclusive interview with their commander, who was allegedly somewhere behind them. As we left the gathering of Mohawk residents and passed though the army lines, another photographer and I exchanged glances and realized we were being conned into leaving the Mohawks without the added protection of our physical presence. At Oka this had also been the case- the SQ and army had expressed frustration that we, the media, had interfered in their firing line. At times we considerably outnumbered the Mohawk Warriors in Kanehsatake (Oka). The other photographer and I turned around and went back to the Mohawk side. As I passed through, one army soldier said to me, “You’d better keep your head up, Miss!” I knew what he meant- stay visible so we don’t aim at the white woman. I said, “You’re not planning on shooting anyone, I hope!” He replied ominously, “ I hope it doesn’t come down to that, Miss…”

Back on the unarmed Mohawk side of this particular standoff, I was considerably worried for their safety and voiced it. One of the residents looked at me with surprise and said, “You sound like one of us!” Emotions were high and I was relieved that no-one was killed in the end. Another standoff happened when army reinforcements were again flown in. I photographed this, but realized I was going to miss picking up my son at daycare in Montreal and had to arrange for a friend to go collect him. While I was in a Mohawk home making the calls, some men had managed to get hold of an Army soldier and beat him.

The beating incident occurred while I was unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a compromise with my 4 year old son's daycare. I could hear gunshots going off in the distance and people screaming, while on the phone an irate daycare worker was insisting that I immediately return to Montreal and fetch my child. She didn’t accept my suggestion that we were all as citizens responsible for this mess and should support each other. It is tough being a single parent in these moments. I knew the earlier rolls of film I’d shot were the only ones of the initial confrontation on the bridge so I hid the most important film canisters in my body. I found my ride companions but was worried we’d be stopped and searched, as the Army and SQ were looking for the perpetrators of the attack on the army soldier. As we passed through the SQ barricade, I flashed my SQ issued press pass at them and we sped off. I had reason to worry, as it later emerged that one of my companions was claiming to have participated in that incident. Whether it was a fact or bravado I’ll never know.

 

Upon returning home, I received a call out of the blue - from LIFE magazine- the dream job of all photographers of the time! I wondered how they'd got my number. The man on the other end said he knew I'd been there, and asked if I had any shots of the army guy who was beaten up by the "Natives", which had followed the teargassing on the Bridge and the stand-off on the Island. (There is more to this story, but for obvious reasons I could not divulge it then.)

But back to LIFE (allegedly, the man on the phone), I regretfully replied, "No. But I DO have exclusive shots of the Canadian Army attacking Mohawks during the teargassing on the Bridge!" "Sorry, we're not interested," came the terse reply. "But don't you even want to see the contacts?" I asked. The phone clicked- dead air.

That's LIFE... (though in this case I suspect, NOT.)

The bridge photos weren’t picked up or published by any of the Montreal dailies, though later in 1991 and 1994 they appeared in two books by Arthur Kroker. In 1990 I had put my photos up on my glass front door on Boulevard St.Laurent alongside a poster for my solo exhibit at a Mohawk Defence Fund event. This resulted in my door being kicked and broken, but it also got the attention of my former professor, Arthur Kroker, which resulted in the bridge photos finally being published.

BOOKS

 

2015 "HerStory 2015", (Coteau Books, Saskatoon Women’s Calendar Collective). Photo of Jenny Jacks, First Nations activist at Oka, from “Behind the Barricades” series.

 

2010 "Incident at Oka" (D&M Publishers), 1 photograph from Behind the Barricades: OKA " Jenny Jacks", Author: Harry Swain

 

2001 The Women's Daybook 2002, 'Women and Food' (Sumach Press), 1 Photograph and text by Linda Dawn Hammond: Behind The Barricades: OKA

 

1994 Semiotext(e) canadas (Columbia University Press)

Back cover Photograph and 3 within by Linda Dawn Hammond: Behind The Barricades: OKA

 

1991 The Possessed Individual: Technology and the French

Postmodern (New World Perspectives)

Author: Arthur Kroker

Photography by Linda Dawn Hammond: 2 from Three Part Bodyseries , 4 photographs from Behind the Barricades: OKA

www.scribd.com/doc/7426491/The-Possessed-Individual

 

EXHIBITIONS

 

May, 2017

Collège La Cite à Toronto

Exhibit and auction for MSF

Photos Sans Frontières

Solo exhibit entitled,

Derrière les barricades: OKA- Behind the Barricades: OKA,

6 photographs on exhibit, 3 additional in auction for MSF

 

June - Aug 2005

Compton Verney, Warwickshire, UK

Group exhibit entitled, The American West

Behind the Barricades: OKA, 6 photographs,

REVIEW

www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/find-things-to-do/a-pio...

 

Oct 2004

Photopolis, Halifax Festival of Photography

Group exhibit entitled, Documents and Dreams: A Group Exhibit of Canadian Documentary Photography

Organized by Narrative 360 At ViewPoint Gallery, Oct.7, 04 - Oct. 31, 04, "Mohawk Child at West Gate Barricade" Giclee print (dim. 36" by 56")

 

Nov 2003

Bfly Atelier, Vancouver

Group exhibit entitled, Documents and Dreams: A Group Exhibit of Canadian Documentary Photography

Organized by Narrative 360 At Bfly Atelier, Nov.13, 03 - Nov. 25, 03, "Mohawk Child at West Gate Barricade" Giclee print (dim. 36" by 56")

 

2000

Les Vivres, Montreal

Solo exhibit entitled, "Hot July: Oka and Sexgarage"

Behind the Barricades: OKA, and Sexgarage: Serve and Protect - Silver prints, (dim. 8" by 10", 11" by 14"),

Quickprint/ Mylars (dim. 3' by 5'),

 

 

Nov 90

Union Francaise, Montréal

Benefit for the Mohawk Defense Fund, Solo exhibit entitled,Behind the Barricades- Oka:

28 B&W documentary photographs (dim. 11" by14")

 

Oct 90

Le Festival du Nouveau Cinema et de

la Video, Montréal

Solo exhibit entitled,Behind the Barricades- Oka:

28 B&W documentary photographs (dim. 11" by14")

teargasSM

Done