Uprising

When impoverished, disheartened, poorly educated, but well-armed aboriginal young people find a modern revolutionary leader in the tradition of 1880s rebellion leader Louis Riel, they rally with a battle cry Take Back the Land! Theirs is a fight to right the wrongs in inflicted on them by the white settlers. They know their minority force cannot take on all Canada. It doesn't need to. A surprise attack on the nation's most vulnerable assets-its energy installations-sends the Canadian Armed Forces scrambling and politicians reeling. Over a few tension-filled days as the battles rage, the frantic prime minister can only watch as the insurrection paralyzes the country. But when energy-dependent Americans discover the southward flow of Canadian hydroelectricity, oil, and natural gas is halted, they do not remain passive. Although none of Canada's leaders saw it coming, the shattering consequences unfold with the same plausible harmony by which quiet aboriginal protests decades ago became the eerie premonitions of today's standoffs and days of action.