People identify themselves in a variety of ways, from gender and age to religion and hobbies. But determining as an indigenous person brings additional layers, complexities, and considerations. This is because agencies and people recognize Native Peoples differently from how they do themselves. This issue is addressed in the Thomas King novel Borders, which explores the complicated themes of identity and belonging, status, and citizenship.
Borders is a poignant depiction of the meaning of the nation’s physical boundaries from the perspective of indigenous peoples. This timeless problem is embodied in a story told in the first person by a child, which gives the reader a clear and simple picture of a complex problem. The narrator is a Blackfoot child living with his mother in Canada (King). His older sister Letitia lived with them but decided to move to Salt Lake City, Utah (King). The sister symbolizes that part of the indigenous people who adapted to the new requirements and citizenship and did not openly speak out or fight for their status. At first, her mother is angry at this move but eventually accepts, and one day she tells her son that they are going to visit her sister. Seasoned with the memories of a child, the reader watches as, at the border, the mother is asked to indicate her citizenship, implying only a choice between Canadian and American, but she answers Blackfoot.
The author pays special attention to the weapons of the border guards. This is also an important symbol since the guards are polite, friendly, and reserved in communication, but they always carry weapons and demonstrate it. The emphasis on weapons gives the reader a hint that the family does not have a real choice of their citizenship. Despite all the restraint and friendliness of external institutions, there is intense pressure on indigenous peoples to reject their status. The weapon symbolizes power – legal, law, restrictions, norms, and rules that force people to accept the ‘right’ citizenship. Native peoples have to confront much greater forces, but they do not give up and do not accept the conditions of those who currently have more strength and power. The guards are systems of different countries, organizations, and authorities that force people to give up their identity and choose citizenship that the authorities consider acceptable and suitable.
No amount of pressure from either the Americans or the Canadians will make her change that answer. Mom symbolizes that part of the indigenous people who value their identity and are ready to fight for it and speak about their rights. As a result, mother and son are stuck in no man’s land between two borders. It symbolizes a kind of uncertainty that native peoples or others may feel towards them regarding their status. This is followed by a story of courage, resilience, pride, and resilience of mother and boy, which symbolize these qualities in native people. They have to go through difficulties for some time, but after a while, the media appears, and everything changes. The border guards are ready to let the family through, accepting them as Blackfoot.
Media representatives symbolize public attention to the problems of Indigenous identity, status, and citizenship. If no one paid attention and did not begin to speak and highlight the problem, then the mother and son would have spent a long time between the two borders. They would be forced to call themselves what they are not and not feel they are for the sake of the system. But the power of publicity, truth, and society helped them. By this, the author emphasizes how important it is to talk about the problem of indigenous peoples because only public attention and indifference, together with perseverance and a firm decision, can change the situation.
Work Cited
King, Thomas. Borders. Little, Brown, 2022.