Acts of Defiance on AllMovie

In 1990, a southern Quebec town's plan for a golf-course extension was undertaken without consulting the Mohawk tribe whose lands would have to be used for it, and the enraged tribespeople blocked the encroaching bulldozers with their bodies. When tribespeople from a nearby reservation heard of it, in solidarity, they closed all the roads into and out of their reservation. Since one of these roads was a major bridge leading into Montreal, this resulted in considerable disruption of trade. The police tried to remove the offending barriers, and one of them was shot and killed. Local whites also grew incensed, and an Indian died from being hit with stones they threw. Eventually, the Canadian Armed Forces were called in. Despite the international coverage these events caused at the time this documentary was made, the officials of the town of Oka continued to insist that their golf course extension plan must be followed.