Oka

History of Oka

In 1717 the governor of New France granted the seigneury of Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes to the clergy of the Séminaire de Montréal so that they could build a mission to convert local Indigenous peoples. Established in 1875, the municipality developed at a strategic position on a point of land that extends well into the lake. In 1881, Trappist monks from France founded their famous Abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, now called the Abbaye Val Notre-Dame (or La Trappe d'Oka).

In 1962 the provincial government developed Parc de récréation d'Oka a few kilometres downstream from the village, its main attraction being its large bay, an ecological sanctuary and the Montagne du Calvaire, on whose peak the seigneurs built a pilgrimage site in 1739 for the Mohawk who went there every autumn before setting out on their hunt. Near Oka is the Mohawk reserve of Kanesatake.

Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis)

A land dispute between the Kanesatake reserve and the municipality of Oka arose in 1990 after the proposed expansion of a golf course and the development of townhouses on disputed land in Kanesatake that included a Kanyen'kehà:ka burial ground (see Kanesatake Resistance (Oka Crisis)).

The Mohawk Warriors Society set up a blockade, and the matter was brought to national attention. An officer of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) was killed when the SQ stormed the blockade in an attempt to dismantle it. Troops of the Canadian Armed Forces were called in, leading to a standoff that ended peacefully.