How have people reconciled contending Nationalist Loyalties?

Reconciliation is the act of resolving differences and repairing relationships that enables people to come to terms with past injustices and to coexist in peace. Nationalist loyalties is basically being loyal to your nation. Going along with the nations values and beliefs even if you do not come from that nation originally.

There have been many times inthe past when people have had to reconcile and come to terms with a contending nationalist loyalty. For example:

1. The Oka Crisis - In 1990, a group of Mohawks people set up a roadblock and a camp in a nearby woods  on the Kanesatake reserve. The Mohawks goal was to stop the expansion of a golf course onto the land that the Mohawks claimed as their own and thought of it as sacred. The Quebec government did not talk to the protesters, while the roadblock was in place, and as usual the protesters said no to remove the barricade. This went on for four months. Other First Nations set up their very own barricade to support the protest going on. Soon enough the Quebec government called in the army, over 2500 Canadian soilders moved in, and slowly started to cut off the protesters communications with the outside people. The protest finally ended on September 26th. Later on the federal government brought up the disputed land, and gave the ownership to the Mohawks. This left a bitterness feeling among the people of Kanesatake and other Aboriginal people.


2. The Royal Commision on Aboriginal Peoples - Prime Minister Brian Mulroney set up the Royal Commision on Aborginial Peoples in 1991 so that the government could get public input. There were 3 non-aborginal, and 4 aboriginal people to sit on the commision. There was one question they had to ask anyone they interviewed or questioned and that was: What are the foundations of a fair and honourable relationship between the aboriginal and non aboriginal people of Canada? After listening to about 2000 people, visiting 96 commuinites, and talking to many experts the people on the commision wrote a report, with 5 different volumes titled "People to People, Nation to Nation". In the end concluding that the policy the Canadian government and the colonial government had been using for the past 150 years was wrong. This showed Canadians a different view on the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people. It said that they had the right as a seperate nation to govern themselves while being in partnership with Canada.

3. Statement of Reconciliation - There was findings of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples led the federal government to issue a Statement of Reconciliation in 1998. This Reconciliation basically said how Canada is now regretting Canada's history of inhabiting Aboriginal culture, values, and also weakening the identity of Aboriginal peoples. The Statement of Reconciliation said "We must acknowledge that the result of these actions was the erosion of the political, economic and social systems of Aboriginal people and nations." After going through so much, for some Aboriginals this statement was a step forward, but for others it was nothing but empty words.

4. Land Claims - Settling land claims had always been a problem and a conflict between people. The first modern land claim that was settled would be the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement of 1975. Only a few more have been settled, but in 2007 about 800 were still unsolved. On June 19, 2007 the National Day of Action was organized by the Assembly of First Nations, this day was all about the First Nations people to talk about issues that had become a bigger problem. Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said that the First Nations people were loosing patience and they were fed up with how slow the negotiations about their issues were going.