Oldal 277 [277]
JAY TREATY: INDIGENOUS RIGHTS OF FREE CROSS-BORDER PASSAGE...
In some cases, the border has also acted as a means for family separation.
Louise Erdrich’s account provides an apt description of what role exactly
the border officers play in removing children from their parents. Erdrich
recounts how she found herself in the middle of an interrogation about the
maternity of her newborn baby as she was unable to provide any official
documentation required by the patrol agent. As she was directed to enter
the interrogation room, she wondered if she was “going to be required to
nurse [her] baby in front of some border-crossing guard” to prove she was her
mother. Even though Erdrich was eventually cleared by a female guard (she
and her baby “[ha]ve passed some mother/daughter test”) she admits to have
been properly shaken. Such experiences can leave behind traces of trauma
and understandably discourage from subsequent cross-border trips.”
Dealing with authorities is not only humiliating but also traumatic for
those who still vividly remember assimilationist policies such as residential
schools, where physical and sexual abuse was institutionalized, or removal of
children from reservations to white foster families. As stories from the border
describing heavy scrutiny are not sporadic, many Indigenous people choose to
avoid crossing the border even if it means cutting ties with their families and
not participating in cultural events. As a result, traditional contacts are either
weakened or lost, which threatens cultural preservation and can negatively
reflect on shared identities. For some, crossing the border is an everyday
necessity. Major complications arise when permanent residence or entry is
denied, for example to American Indian women who are not recognized as
status Indians in Canada and cannot thus take up residence there even if they
are married to a First Nation spouse.*” The lamentable situation of some of these
nations will be discussed in more detail in the second part of this paper.
IDENTITY DOCUMENTS: TRIBAL CARDS AND PASSPORTS
Ultimately, border discrimination and disregard of Indigenous nations’
sovereignty is most evident in the failure to recognize the validity of tribal
passports or enrollment cards. To be able to identify as a member of an
Indigenous nation is an important aspect of one’s identity that also contributes
to cultural preservation. Most Indigenous nations issue tribal cards for their
members and some also produce their own international passports. Joe
Kennedy, a member of the Western Shoshone Nation, describes the pride and
empowerment he feels when traveling internationally with his tribal passport:
“I feel good and I feel honored that the Guatemalan authorities welcomed
3° Erdrich, The Border Crossing, n.p.n. (Kindle).
#7 Caron, Report, n.p.n.
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