When people go down to Gumshoes Swamp and walk along the rocky shoreline, they look across the narrow stretch of water and see rocky bluffs (and soon, giant windmills). They might even think to themselves: "Hey, that's Canada."
A few centuries ago, Bay Mills' ancestors would tread along the same rocky shoreline and look across the same narrow stretch of water and see the same rocky bluffs (but no windmills). As they gazed across the chilly water, though, they probably thought to themselves: "Hey, that's the other side of the lake."
The imaginary line that was drawn down the middle of that stretch of water altered the perception of people on both sides of the lake. Where there was once a single country - an Ojibwe Country - there are now two.
Where there was once unification, there is now isolation, as the Canadian border split apart families, clans, and bands.
In another 18 months, that isolation will be exacerbated when at the beginning of 2008 the United States will require a passport, or equivalent identification, for all persons to enter the U.S. by land.
(Inside sources say that the federal government is mulling over whether to recognize the mullet haircut for these purposes, which has been given the label of "The Canadian Passport" by some.)
The federal government claims that this requirement is needed to boost "national security."
What they call "national security," though, many tribes might call "national segregation," as the new policy threatens to further isolate sister tribes on both sides of the border.
The cost of a U.S. passport can exceed $100. For a tribal citizen to bring his or her family of four over to Canada to visit relatives, to attend a pow wow, or to participate in a ceremony could cost as much as $500.
And really, how many tribal families consist of only four people?
For many, the cost of visiting our sister tribes on the other side of the border would be virtually prohibitive under this plan.
In return, many tribes along the Canadian border rely extensively on Canadian customers to support their businesses. In 2008, tribal businesses can expect a dramatic decrease in the number of Canadian patrons, as many of those people will elect to stay at home rather than pay for a passport just to hop the border for a weekend afternoon.
For many tribes with small operations, like ours here at Bay Mills, this drop in business could be financially devastating.
If ever there was an issue for tribes on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border to come together and rally around, this is it.
There are currently proposals to delay implementation of this policy to come up with a more workable solution for local governments that rely upon border crossings to support their economies. Tribes must exploit this opportunity and work with those governments to get the attention of members of Congress and Canadian Parliament to voice our interests in this policy, which have been largely ignored.
While it is understandable that the federal government wants to secure its borders, they need to understand tribal concerns. Perhaps the U.S. and Canadian governments can provide funding to tribal governments to improve tribal identification technology and recognize those forms of identification for purposes of border crossings (to say nothing of the Jay Treaty of 1794).
Our tribal leaders should not wait until the eve of implementation of this policy to take action. With 18 months to go, now is the time for our leaders to push for a change in this policy to prevent the further segregation of what was a unified country.
Bryan Newland is a Bay Mills Indian Community Member and a student at Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing. He is the oldest son of Gordon and Vickie Newland of Bay Mills. He has written columns and letters that have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. He is the oldest son of Gordon and Vicki Newland of Bay Mills and is married to Erica Newland, with son, Graydon. You can respond to his column at 517-862-5570 or tikro6@yahoo.com.
