In 1990, to protest a proposal to turn Mohawk claimed land in Oka, Quebec into a golf course, the Mohawk of Kanesatake blockaded a rarely used dirt road. After four months, Oka's mayor called in the Quebec police, whose attempts to remove the barrier were met with another road block, this one cutting off two major highways which feed the Mercier Bridge, a vital link between Montreal and some of its suburbs. The confrontation escalated and in the ensuing gun battle, a policeman was killed.

ACTS OF DEFIANCE investigates the struggles of the Mohawk against the federal and provincial governments, the army, and the stone throwing rioters. The film demonstrates that the rebellion was not engineered by a conspiratorial elite, as often claimed, but came from a determined and united Mohawk people.

"Like INCIDENT AT OGLALA, this documentary charts a divisive, violent conflict between government and Native American interests... Good reportage." - Variety