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DENISA KRASNA
renew traditional contacts, revive their culture as well as unite in environmental
action to safeguard their traditional lands. The first part of this paper outlines
the differences in the treatment of Indigenous cross-border rights in the US and
Canada and the related border discrimination issues. The second part focuses
on Indigenous cross-border cultural and environmental coalitions in the Arctic
and Pacific Northwest to showcase the resilience and resourcefulness of the
people facing the direct effects of the imposed border.
This paper is largely informed by research conducted during an internship
in the Cascadia-Cross Border Law, a US-Canadian law firm specializing in the
Jay Treaty with offices in Bellingham (WA), Vancouver (BC), and Anchorage
(AK). It draws legal information from an article written by Greg Boos,
Heather Fathali and Greg McLawsen, lawyers from Cascadia. Furthermore,
it integrates studies by Rachel Rose Starks et al., Leti Volpp, David Stirrup
and Jan Clark, Sara Singleton, and Michael Marker whose research informs
my own on many levels. It is the aim of this paper to provide an updated
overview of Indigenous border-crossing rights and issues in US and Canada.
To differentiate from previously published studies and enrich the existing
scholarship, more attention is paid to Canada’s willingness, or the lack thereof,
to reconcile and cooperate with First Nations. Furthermore, the paper provides
a closer examination of selected cross-border environmental and cultural
initiatives that illuminates the many subtle strategies Indigenous tribes adopt
in overcoming the challenges generated by the international border.
JAY TREATY: FREE CROSS-BORDER PASSAGE IN CANADA AND US
The Jay Treaty, officially known as the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and
Navigation, was signed in 1794 by the recently formed United States and
Great Britain and ratified in 1795.’ As its official title indicates, the treaty
was contracted to settle issues arising after the US independence between the
two nation-states, primarily regarding international trade. The Jay Treaty also
reaffirmed the 49th parallel as the official border between the US and Canada.
In response to concerns raised by the tribes residing on or near the recently
established borders, Article III of the Treaty was negotiated to guarantee
Indigenous people the right of cross-border passage and trade (Article III,
Jay Treaty). Even though the War of 1812 temporarily suspended Jay Treaty
rights, the Treaty of Ghent renewed them in 1814. Additionally, it was agreed
prior to the war that Article III of the Treaty could not be modified by any
future treaty and the right of free cross-border passage for Indigenous people
of the two countries should therefore remain inviolable.”
2 Ibid. 21.
13 Boos —- McLawsen - Fathali, Canadian Indians, Inuit, Metis, and Metis, 347.
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