July 11, 1990 marked the beginning of the Oka Crisis in Quebec Canada. This lasted until September 26, 1990, resulting in the death of a local police officer. The violent clash was sparked by something as simple as a golf course expansion and as complicated as indigenous burial traditions. This had attracted worldwide attention, catapulting indigenous land rights into the mix. The Oka Crisis is just one of many conflicts between Indigenous people and the Canadian government. A major issue that has been the subject of much debate in the 20th century is that of indigenous sovereignty. The request seems simple: allow Canada's Indigenous people to govern themselves; however, coexisting with the Canadian government makes this idea extremely complicated. Roger Townshend states that there is a difference in perception between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people regarding jurisdiction over Canadian territory and that this is one of the reasons why Indigenous people should govern themselves. Opposing this view, Thomas Flanagan opposes Indigenous sovereignty because it does not constitute a viable mechanism in Canadian politics. Indigenous sovereignty can never co-exist with Canadian sovereignty due to the complexity of having a third level of government, a resolution cannot be violated since the traditions of each tribe are different, and the idea of ​​having a functional conglomerate of indigenous groups is very unlikely. Roger Townshend makes a number of points that support the idea of ​​Indigenous sovereignty. He emphasizes that the very perception of sovereignty with regard to Canada's Indigenous people has changed. During early contact with the first European settlers, Native people were treated as "...allies or enemies, but either way, as nations to be treated on an equal footing with the European states" (Townshend 37). Middle of paper, in Canada, this would be much less obvious. This would give Indigenous people the opportunity to develop within the confines of the Canadian constitution. Works Cited “…allies or enemies, but in all cases, as nations to be treated on an equal footing with the States of Europe” (Townshend 37). in a sovereignty based on conquest, discovery and colonization, or treaty” (Townshend 37). “…the sharing of jurisdictional powers between government institutions is already part of the essence of the Canadian state” (Townshend 39). “Across the 10 provinces, Canada has more than six hundred Indian bands living on more than 2,200 reserves, as well as hundreds of thousands of Métis and non-status Indians who do not own reserves” (Flanagan 44). “No one has thus far proposed a viable mechanism by which the scattered archipelago could be united into a single level of government” (Flanagan 45).