Canadian Soldiers Closing in on Defiant Mohawks
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OKA, Quebec — Heavily armed Canadian soldiers Monday tightened their perimeter around a group of armed and defiant Mohawk Indians who refused to surrender.
Army spokeswoman Capt. Lynne Bermel said the army moved several hundred yards closer to “The Pines,” an Indian alcohol and drug treatment center on the Kanesatake reserve, west of Montreal.
Oneida Nation Chief Terry Doxtator told reporters outside the treatment center that the remaining Mohawk Warriors “will not lay down their arms if the army moves in.”
About two dozen members of the Mohawk Warriors and an unknown number of women and children were reportedly holed up in the treatment center.
The dispute in Oka began several months ago over a proposed expansion of the town’s golf course on land that Mohawks on the Kanesatake reserve claim is an ancient burial ground. It turned violent on July 11, when a provincial police officer was killed.
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