MNN. Sept. 18, 2006. In 1991, a year after the 1990 Mohawk Oka Crisis, a reporter from the Montreal Mirror met with some Rotiskenrakete at the Mohawk Nation Office in Kahnawake. He had information about the death of SQ Surete du Quebec Corporal Marcel Lemay during the para-military attack on the Mohawks of Kanehsatake on July 11, 1990.
In early 1990 there had been a so-called “civil war” stirred up between the Rotiskenrakete and anti-warriors in Akwesasne. The anti-warriors were supported by the US and Canada.
SQ Internal Affairs had launched an investigation into illegal sales of weapons to the anti’s without proper permits by a shop in Valleyfield, Quebec, west of Montreal.
It appears that the SQ had given the Akwesasne Tribal Police a check to buy guns. They went to Valleyfield with some anti-warriors. Instead of cashing it beforehand, they gave the check to the storeowner to pay for the guns. Several days later two Mohawk men were shot and killed. These killings remain unresolved.
SQ Internal Affairs found information about the financing and supply of weapons to the anti-warriors in Akwesasne to destroy the Rotiskenrakete.
Corporal Lemay was in charge of the internal investigation. He went to the gun store in Valleyfield. The books showed an SQ check had paid for the guns. Lemay was ready to report his findings.
On the morning of July 11th, 1990, three of the four SWAT units in the Montreal district were assigned to the Oka region. They were to launch a para-military attack on the Mohawks in the ceremonial grounds known as the Pines. The SQ has never told who issued this order.
Corporal Lemay worked behind the desk investigating police misconduct. On this day he was ordered to suit up with a bullet-proof vest, helmet and M-16 to take part in a military style attack on Mohawk men, women and children. Minutes after the attack, Lemay lay dead.
A bullet had entered his left side just below his armpit between the unprotected area of the vest and his body. Lemay never got beyond Mohawk lines and never had any Rotiskenrakere behind or beside him. They had retreated into the woods for better defensive positions. The SQ had tried to attack from the front and side to catch Rotiskenrakete in the crossfire in a “flanking maneuver”.
Lemay was on the main front assault line. He was killed outright. The reporter questioned the SQ’s investigation into Lemay ’s death. Normally when an officer is killed in the line of duty, someone must pay the price. The SQ treated the death as a civilian casualty.
Immediately following the attack SQ Internal Affairs descended on Lemay’s home and seized all his documents. Mrs. Lemay told the media, “I don’t hold the Mohawks responsible for the death of my husband”.
The reporter concluded that the incident was a setup and cover up. Along with disposing of Lemay, the assault on our people was the “final push” by the Quebec, Canada and US governments to choke the Mohawk people into submission and to criminalize us. They were trying to destroy our economic independence.
The reporter was discredited and threatened to “leave well enough alone”. Lemay’s discovery of SQ involvement in Akwesasne’s so-called “civil war” would have implicated the SQ top brass and brought down high government officials.
Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate and to sign up for MNN newsletters go to www.mohawknationnews.com See Categories “Kanehsatake” & “Akwesasne”.
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