Date of Award
1999
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
In this thesis, I will argue that the Aboriginal peoples whose traditional territories straddle the Canada - United States border have the right to pass and repass the border freely. With this right comes the ability to live and/or work in either country without having to apply for permission each time with Immigration officials. I have suggested that instead of litigating these rights, the governments of both Canada and the United States should commence tri-partite discussions on how best to accommodate these rights, both on an interim basis and permanently through legislation. One of the measures that I have suggested is a form of identification that indicates the individual holders of Aboriginal and Treaty rights to pass the border freely. The honor of the Crown demands that fair treatment be afforded to the Aboriginal peoples on this Continent called Turtle Island by its First Peoples. The Crown can not now in good faith refuse to recognize the very rights it promised to uphold so that they could settle this country for themselves. The Aboriginal and Treaty rights with regard to border passage already exist, and it is time the Crown worked in partnership with Aboriginal people to facilitate these rights, instead of rely on litigation.
Recommended Citation
Pamela Doris Palmater, In the Path of our Ancestors: The Aboriginal Right to Cross the Canada-United States Border (LLM Thesis, Dalhousie University, 1999) [unpublished].
