Borders by Thomas King

Borders is a story that explores citizenship and identity from an indigenous perspective. This graphic novel is an adaptation based on one of indigenous author, Thomas King's short stories. It is told in retrospect,  by a young boy, who along with his mother, are preparing to visit his older sister who left their reserve in Canada and who now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She left when she was seventeen, and her brother seven or eight years old. Now twelve or thirteen, the boy is thrilled that his mother has decided to visit his sister in Salt Lake City.

He remembers when Laetitia left home. Because their father was American, from Rocky Boy, Montana, this meant they had no trouble travelling across the border. Laetitia had not left home with her mother's blessing. Nevertheless, their mother was proud of all that she had achieved and that she had made this decision independently.

After Laetitia packed, they drove to the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts, Alberta. While Laetitia and her mother drank coffee and talked about her leaving, the boy had an orange soda and went to look at an abandoned museum. Laetitia and her mother eventually said their goodbyes and she walked across the border into Sweet Grass, Montana.

Over the next couple years the boy and his mother received postcards from Laetitia that seem to suggest she is doing well in Salt Lake City. She has a good job and lives in an apartment that has a pool.Each postcard invited them to visit. 

Finally one day his mother purchased two new tires for their car, they got nicely dressed, packed a lunch of sandwiches and fruit, along with blankets and pillows.

They left the reserve in the morning and drove to Coutts where the boy's mother got a coffee at the convenience store. Then they drove up to the border crossing and were met by an older man who was the border guard on duty. He asked where they were headed, the purpose of their visit, and their citizenship. To the latter question, the boy's mother responded, "Blackfoot." Not knowing what to do the border guard calls a second guard who also asks her to declare her citizenship. Again she states that she is "Blackfoot". They were told to park their car and come into the border building. There they meet Inspector Pratt who explains why they need to declare their citizenship. She offers to have Laetitia's mom verbally declare her citizenship which will not be recorded on the sheet. But this offer is refused and they are told they must return to where they came from. 

They drive back to the Canadian border where they now face the same questions and the same issues as at the American border crossing. The boy and his mother are now caught between the two borders, sleeping in their car and spending time in the Duty-Free shop. That is until the press show up.

 Discussion

 This adaptation of Borders, originally published in 1993, is a graphic novel with illustrations by Natasha Donovan, a Metis illustrator originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. Thomas King is an American-Canadian indigenous writer of Cherokee and Greek heritage. 

Borders explores the concept of identity and citizenship, and the indigenous understanding of our relationship to the land. To the Blackfeet people, the border between Canada and the United States is a European construct. The Blackfeet people were nomadic, their ancestral lands encompassing what is now southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and northern Montana. In pre-contact times, they followed the migration of vast herds of bison which roamed the western plains. These magnificent animals provided everything they needed to survive. Like other indigenous peoples, the land wasn't owned; they belonged to the land. And they didn't cross "borders" to follow the bison.

In Borders, when the mother is asked her citizenship, she declares Blackfoot. Although she lives on the reservation in Canada, she does not identify as Canadian but as Blackfoot. But Blackfoot isn't recognized as a nation that one can belong to: she must choose only between Canadian and American citizenship, and so she finds herself caught between the two countries. Eventually with the help of the media, they are allowed into the U.S. and spend some time visiting with Laetitia.

Today members of the Blackfoot Confederacy, a group made up of four indigenous groups have dual citizenship as they consider themselves a sovereign state. So they may hold dual citizenship: Blackfoot and Canadian or American.

Donovan's realistic illustrations aid superbly in the storytelling. The characters are well drawn, very stylized, the palette vibrant and varied depending on the setting. 

Borders is a good addition to a school's graphic novel collection, encouraging readers to consider the meaning of citizenship and how it is tied to the land. You can learn more about the Blackfeet Nation at their website: https://blackfeetnation.com.

Book Details:

Borders by Thomas King
Toronto: HarperCollins Publishing Ltd.  2021
175 pp.