Entry:
CBC’s 2018 article Canada pledges to review border policy regarding Indigenous nations describes how the Canada/U.S. border has divided the territories of First Nations, disrupting cultural and traditional activities and causing an undue burden on the Nations. The border creates significant challenges in regards to hunting, cultural exchanges and mobility for Nations whose territory is extends into both Canadian and U.S. land. The article describes the Canadian government’s pledge to try and address the problems Indigenous people face at the border, but states that laws have not yet changed and admits that the changes will be part of a ‘longer process’.
Rationale:
This article makes clear the ways in which borders function as an extension of a settler-colonial state. The presence of a state border cutting through sovereign First Nations territory, restricting Indigenous mobility and control, exemplifies an ongoing colonial process in Canada and the United States. The article relates to transnational feminist themes including decolonization, the white settler state, and the ways in which the nation-state maintains power and control. This article also brings to mind the importance of the Idle No More movement and its focus on Indigenous sovereignty and disruption of perceived state permanence. Transnational feminisms must be responsible to the forms of Indigenous governance that precede the settler state.
Keywords: borders, Indigeneity, territory, sovereignty
Author: deroo
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