Hornung, Rick

New York. 1991. Pantheon Books. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0679412654. 304 pages. hardcover. Jacket photograph by John Kenny/The Gazette, Montreal. Jacket design by Henry Sene Yee. keywords: American Indian Mohawk History. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Over a period of 16 months, from 1989 to 1990, bitterly divided Mohawks fought each other, the New York State Police, the FBI, the provincial police of Ontario and Quebec. At various times, the Canadian Forces were put on alert. In Mohawk lands in New York and Quebec, barricades, roadblocks, arson, and gun battles became part of the daily routine. At the St. Regis reserve in New York, anti-gamblers split the councils established by white authorities when they appealed for a police invasion that could shut down the casinos and stamp out the Warriors. Claiming betrayal, the armed Warriors openly resisted. The escalating violence hit a climax in April and May, when the Mohawks were accused of shooting down a National Guard helicopter and gun battles led to the killing of two Mohawks in southern Quebec. The deaths prompted a cooling-off period that elapsed during the first days of July, when the simmering dispute between the Oka Golf Club in Quebec and local Mohawks inflamed passions. On July 11, the Quebec provincial police heeded the request of local citizens and politicians, launching a heavily armed attack. The Warriors were ready and fired on the advancing police. One officer was shot in the side, the bullet passing through a crack in his protective vest and killing him. The shot triggered approximately 80 days of armed siege and intensive negotiations that split the Mohawks as well as the white authorities. When the police attempted to seal off the territory, Mohawks took the Mercier Bridge and threatened to blow it up. This threat prompted the provincial police to seek the help of federal officials, including Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who ordered the military to join the dispute. Expecting a bloody confrontation if their troops invaded the Mohawk land, the military commanders agreed to swear off a first strike, a position that angered the Quebec officials. Over the next few weeks, the troops surrounded the Mohawks with barbed wire, artillery, and tanks, forcing them into submission. In the months before and following the armed uprising at Oka, Rick Hornung covered the hostilities on the Mohawk reserves for The Village Voice. inventory #17308 ISBN: 0679412654.