Sunday, January 26, 2020

Confrontation And Crisis

This is the powwow dress regalia designed and made by Amanda Laroque, a Mi'kmaq dancer from Quebec.


The Oka Crisis erupted in 1990. Mohawk protestors, frustrated by plans to expand a golf course onto disputed lands, launched a protest that turned into a 78 day standoff with the provincial police and the army.


This painting, Life On The 18th Hole, is by David Neel, and dates back to that year.


The next thematic area concerns itself with Quebec and the Francophone community. One of the display cases includes a sweater and hockey stick belonging to Maurice "Rocket" Richard, a legend of the Montreal Canadiens team and an icon for Quebec.


A dark chapter of Quebec history is examined here with panels and artifacts. The Front de Liberation du Quebec was a terrorist group founded in the early 1960s that conducted a series of attacks in the province that would lead to the October Crisis of 1970. 


The October Crisis saw the kidnapping of the provincial Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte and a British diplomat, James Cross, by the FLQ. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act as a response. Laporte was murdered by his kidnappers, while Cross was released.

26 comments:

  1. I guess "struggles" will always be part of our world.

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  2. ...struggles seem to be a way of life.

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  3. The powwow dress regalia uses such beautiful cheerful colours, but the story is full of great sadness. I would like to think today that we have more humanity, but when I think of the Rohingya genocide in Mayanmar and other struggles around the world, I fear that is not so.

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  4. I like the colors of the powwow clothes, the hippies copied them in the 70th !

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  5. Hello, the powwow dress is amazing. Enjoy your day, wishing you a great new week ahead.

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  6. You realize you are getting old when items from events that took place during your own lifetime are enshrined in museums!

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  7. @Joan: true.

    @Tom: indeed.

    @Rosemary: unfortunately.

    @Gattina: that isn't surprising.

    @Eileen: thank you.

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  8. From the dress regalia to the Rocket: great to see. The last bit not so great to be reminded of.

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  9. I must have not heard of these conflicts...so sad. Sad that they happened, and that our news didn't cover them such that I would have heard about them. I do love the pow wow dress, beautiful fabric art.

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  10. It's only when you visit exhibitions like this that it really sinks in how badly First Nation People were treated in many countries, Australia is definitely included ✨

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  11. I go with Grace. My FIL was one of the unarmed police officers in the 1972´s Olympic games Munich.
    My MIL was highly pregnant with my BIL. No phone calls. It must´ve been very horrible. And yet, what do we have today? The same.

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  12. These were very frightening times. With the Quebec crisis we didn't know what was happening.

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  13. I remember that October Crisis. A dark time indeed!

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  14. @David: that's true!

    @Anvilcloud: definitely.

    @Barbara: both Oka and the October Crisis were big things in Canada, but as is often the case, things that happen here are generally overlooked by the world beyond.

    @Grace: every single step we can take to make up for it is the right step.

    @Iris: so it seems.

    @Red: it was a dark time.

    @RedPat: there always is.

    @Jan: a pleasure to show it.

    @Sharon: it definitely is.

    @Marie: it was, yes.

    @Marleen: definitely.

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  15. Lovely colors in photos and conflict seems part of countries ~ great photos, though,


    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  16. That dress is something to be admired.

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  17. Your blog posts have taught me more about Canadians than I learned in school or a anywhere else. Interesting to think that I was taught more about European history than our neighbor Canada's history.

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  18. I love seeing ceremonial regalia. That's a beautiful pow wow dress.

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  19. Love the pow wow clothing. A golf course is a really lousy reason to take someone's land.

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  20. That opening display is just fabulous. What a pow wow ensemble.

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  21. The powwow dress is amazing, wonderful colours.

    All the best Jan

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  22. @Carol: thank you.

    @Gemel: indeed.

    @Maywyn: we are often overlooked.

    @Kay: I think so too.

    @Linda: it was, yes.

    @Jeanie: very much so.

    @Jan: definitely.

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