“We are the ones that we are waiting for” - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 118

As Canada and the United States built their cultural identities as bounded
nations, the identities of the Indigenous communities spanning the border were
impacted by the changing political geography. The production of sovereign
political systems in Canada and the United States affected and continues to affect
environmental governance, particularly access to and management of resources for
Indigenous communities. The colonial political demarcation not only severed a
cultural continuum that spanned and pre-dated the international border, but also
created different national identities, rights to ownership of land, and land and
resource policies that continue to impact Indigenous communities (Boxberger,
1989; Harris DC, 2000, 2001; Harris C, 2002). As the divergent political systems
strengthened and developed national identities, Indigenous communities, whose
traditional territory spanned the international divide, became increasingly frag-
mented.
Shortly after the 1849 demarcation, yet another politically-defined construction
of space occurred in North America. The establishment of the reservation system
was a physical and political restructuring of Indigenous communities, which greatly
impacted access to culturally relevant resources such as salmon and shellfish and
impacted hunting and gathering practices throughout Coast Salish territory
(Boxberger, 1989; Harris, 2000). A new tribal system was imposed on a cultural
group based on family units unified by cultural practice, language, and intermarriage
(Suttles, 1974). As noted Coast Salish scholar Wayne Suttles (1960, p. 296) reflects,
groups of villages in the Coast Salish region were linked by “common dialect and
traditions as 'tribes' but in recent generations these village groupings were certainly
not separate 'societies'”. The creation of the reserve system significantly altered
settlements, migration patterns, and access to resources for the Salish communities
(Boxberger, 1993; Miller, 1997, 2006; Barman, 1999).
The political demarcations drastically changed participation in subsistence
activities not only throughout Coast Salish territory, but wherever the Indigenous
communities would seek to harvest resources. Access to natural resources, including
hunting, gathering, and marine and freshwater resources, was regulated under
divergent sets of codes, laws, and principles. The implications of the changed
governance structures post-contact are especially acute in the management of
mobile resources, e.g. salmon that migrate between the newly demarcated borders.
In many cases, the salmon spawn on one side of the international border and migrate
to the other side during their adult life. This migration complicates fishing rights
and access during the harvest season. The access to, and distribution of, salmon
are integral components to the societal make-up and identity of Coast Salish
communities (Suttles, 1974; Boxberger, 1989). The shift from internally-governed
systems (pre-contact) to externally-monitored systems (post-contact) has ongoing
consequences and implications for cultural preservation. This restructuring also has
far-reaching impacts related to preservation of family structures. Limiting the
ability to subsist on natural resources, and therefore limiting the ability to support
Indigenous communities, causes extraordinary stress on families and ultimately com-
prises the wellness of intact family structures.