In 1981, members of the Algonquin tribe successfully blockaded a commercial rice-harvesting venture which the Government of Canada had granted permission to harvest wild rice. The tribe had traditionally gathered this grain by hand for centuries. Hundreds of people blockaded roads, and despite police helicopters, paddy wagons, and "a lot of hostility and pushing and shoving," according to Harold Perry, honorary chief of the Ardoch Algonquins, the tribe and its supporters held their ground for 27 days—long enough for the federal government to reverse its decision and revoke the commercial permit.