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JAY TREATY: INDIGENOUS RIGHTS OF FREE CROSS-BORDER PASSAGE...
should still be permitted to enter Canada on their tribal cards due to the
country’s recognition of “aboriginal right to freely pass the border,” however,
recognition of this inherent right has also been highly inconsistent.”
Starks et al. assert that the issues surrounding identification documents
remain unresolved despite repeated official acknowledgments of the high
reliability of tribal identification systems that demand a thorough proof of
lineage for enrollment.** In response to increased concerns after the 9/11
terrorist attacks, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) tightened
documentation requirements for crossing the US-Canadian border which
had an effect on Indigenous people’s ability to cross the border with their
enrollment cards. Even though several tribes promptly found a solution in the
form of an enhanced tribal card that complies with the WHTI requirements,
the Canadian government has been reluctant to accept it. Akwesasne Grand
Chief Abram Benedict shares his experience: “Canada has not been responsive
to our attempts to find solutions; instead, they seem to find reasons for them
not to work. Ironically, the US Customs and Border Protection supports the
creation of a Mohawk secure ID card.”*° While it may truly seem ironic that
the US is more willing to cooperate with Indigenous peoples than Canada,
looking back at what has been already exposed in this paper it becomes less
surprising as Canada seems to be simply following an established pattern.
CROSS-BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL COALITIONS IN THE ARCTIC
“My people have lived in this place for thousands of years, and the
hearts of the Gwich’in Nation and the Porcupine caribou herd have
been linked since time immemorial. Our creation story tells that the
Gwichin will always keep a part of the caribou heart, and the caribou
will always keep a part of the Gwich’in heart. The future of the Gwich’in
and the future of the caribou are the same. “What befalls the caribou,
befalls the Gwich’in.”
(Bernadette Demientieff, Executive Director,
Gwich’in Steering Committee)
The Indigenous writer, activist, and scholar Melissa K. Nelson explains that
most Indigenous worldviews evoke the concept of interconnectedness that
encompasses the belief that the world revolves around reciprocal relationships,
including human interactions “with the more-than-human world: the local
13 Boos — McLawsen — Fathali, Canadian Indians, Inuit, Metis, and Metis, 371.
44 Starks — McCormack — Cornell, Native Nations, 57.
© Quoted in Dyck — Patterson, Border Crossing Issues, 11.
+ 277 +