“We are the ones that we are waiting for” - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 124

The material impacts of a fixed border: governing across
a colonial construction of space
Although the Coast Salish communities identify themselves as a connected group,
the realities of border-crossing serve as harsh reminders of the politics of occupation
and colonially-constructed space. In fact, many Coast Salish people do not recognize
the border as a matter of principle. Some even go as far as not declaring U.S. or
Canadian citizenship when crossing the border, choosing rather to self-identify by
family or tribe.
Testimonies of participants attending the Jamestown and Tulalip Gatherings
reflect the hardships of the border and the ongoing impacts of political fragmentation
on resource management. At the Gatherings, participants provided testimony on
the continued impacts of, consternation for, and resistance to their bordered
homeland. In discussions, many participants described the border (or “the line” as
it is commonly called by Coast Salish community members) as something that
needed to be “overcome”. The demarcation of this line was often viewed as
something that was separating their communities: “Like the Great Wall of China,
[the line] is separating us”. In addition, the construction of reservation borders was
also voiced as a major concern. As one elder from the northern Coast Salish territory
indicated: “Our people once controlled over 600,000 [square] miles of ancestral
land and now we live on reservations and they expect us to plan for the future of
our children on small plots of land”. In addition, the physical passage through the
border brought up strong emotions related to identity and power: “Having to state,
'I'm American' or 'I'm Canadian' isn't right. 'No!' I say to the guard, 'I am Coast
Salish!'”.
The testimony also reflects that the Gathering provides a sense of (re)con-
nectedness, allowing families that span the border to come together. Several of the
participants voiced this as an opportunity to reconnect with family and community
throughout Coast Salish territory: “We are able to bring together our relatives.
That border separates us, but we are connected in many, many ways”. The recog-
nition that this was an opportunity to reunify and strengthen their voice was also
noted: “We need to speak with one voice. We need to continue to build upon
that foundation of shared history. That is what we are doing. We are learning to
speak with one voice again.” This quote is an example of how strategic essen-
tialism is employed to push forward goals associated with a unified Coast Salish
Nation, both in terms of self-determination and the capacity to serve as stewards
of the shared natural environment.
In the discussions, the border was often linked to wider issues of natural resource
management. As one participant reflected, “Natural resources bring us together.
It bothers me that we have to compete for natural resources because we have always
worked together. The way the system is now, we are set up against each other.”
The above statements capture a central driver of the establishment of the Gather-
ing. They also reinforce observations by Thom (2010) on the changing fabric of
the Coast Salish community and the efforts to reconfigure strategically for a com-
mon purpose. Historically, Coast Salish communities worked collectively to ensure