Book Description

For 78 days in the summer of 1990, Canadians were transfixed by the dramatic images of Mohawk warriors in an armed standoff with the Quebec police and the Canadian army. It was a crisis that paralyzed an entire province, gripped the nation's imagination, and forever transformed the politics of aboriginal people in Canada. People of the Pines is the insider's account of the amazing events at Oka and Kahnawake in the hot summer of 1990. Written by two journalists who lived at the warrior encampment in the final weeks of the military siege; -It contains a memorable portrait of the strange and fascinating characters who plotted the warrior strategy. - It explores the ideological training grounds of the Warrior Society and hotbeds of Mohawk nationalism that continue to supply hundreds of new recruits for warrior movement. - It describes the 270 year dispute over the land at Oka and the stubborn men and women who led that fight, inspiring their grandchildren and great-grandchildren who stood together in the Pines in 1990. - It investigates the little-known history of armed conflict and guerrilla warfare at Oka and Kahnawake. - And it contains some surprising new revelations about gun-smuggling, psychological warfare, secret meetings and private deals at the highest levels of Canada's political and military circles. People of the Pines is an unforgettable saga of intense human drama and military intrigue. It tells a compelling story of the uncompromising idealists and powerful personalities who forced Canada to confront the new reality of aboriginal people in this country today.