Facing the Oka Crisis

A Conflict Resolution Perspective

"As a peacemaker and mediator, walking humbling means not just an effort to control ‘my solutions’ or ‘my ego’; it is an ongoing recognition of my humanity, an openness to feedback and criticism, and a willingness to acknowledge shortcomings."

During the summer and into the fall months of 1990 the longest armed standoff in decades between a Native community an a North American government was played out on our television screens and daily newspapers under the rubric of “The Oka Crisis.” I had a small part in that volatile situation. The following pages contain a few of my observations and suggestions as to how the crisis might be understood and what might be done differently in future situations…

Lederach, John Paul. “Facing the Oka Crisis: A Conflict Resolution Perspective.” The Conrad Grebel Review 9, no. 2 (Spring 1991): 115–32.

This article was originally published in The Conrad Grebel Review 9, No. 2 (Spring 1991): 115-132, and appears here with the publisher’s permission.
Shared with the permission of the MCC Library and the library collections of MCC Canada and MCC U.S.

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The Challenge of Terror: A Traveling Essay

Written while stranded in Guatemala after September 11, an essay suggesting a number of lessons learned from peace initiatives where terrorism was employed as a tool of struggle and calling for new approaches to combating the challenge.

2001