Indigenous Communities on the US-Mexico Border
“For members of dozens of Native American nations, crossing tribal lands often means crossing an international border,” PBS NewsWeekend reports. They have a short piece on this issue, focusing on the Pascua Yaqui Nation and their attempt to regain tribal sovereignty by easing US-Mexico border crossings in tribal lands. Find further information here. The Pascua Yaqui are not the only nation affected by this border—among others, the Tohono O’odham Nation’s tribal lands have been separated and a piece on their website called “No Wall” advocates against a border wall. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has a handbook on the rights of these communities for border crossings, which may make for an interesting piece for your students to study. Find that here.
Books on the subject include Dr. Christina Leza’s (Yoeme-Chicana) Divided Peoples. Policy, Activism, and Indigenous Identities on the U.S.-Mexico Border. An article entitled “Indigenous Identities on the U.S.-Mexico Border” can be accessed for free here. Also recommended are Unsettled Borders: The Militarized Science of Surveillance on Sacred Indigenous Land by Dr. Felicity Amaya Schaeffer, and Border Citizens: The Making of Indians, Mexicans, and Anglos in Arizona by Dr. Eric V. Meeks.