Indigenous Internationalisms and Border Crossings

Course description

Expressions of Indigenous internationalism are practiced in several different ways by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across Turtle Island and globally. Encompassing Indigenous trade relations, diplomatic protocols, treaty arrangements, acts of solidarity and other assertions of self-determining authority, Indigenous internationalism is an emerging area of research that exposes tensions between Indigenous nations and states over border policies and highlights Indigenous relationships that transcend state borders. This course will examine the ways that Indigenous nations are expressing their relationships to lands and waters through complex diplomacies and forms of engagement, as well as their experiences with state border crossings. Drawing on Indigenous peoples’ perspectives across Turtle Island and beyond, each session will include short lectures, discussion, and an examination of case studies.

Special guest speaker:

• Thomas Tawhiri, Te Matatini Society Incorporated, New Zealand
• Shoukia van Beek (BIG Lab)
• Representative for the Indigenous Affairs Secretariat of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)