Since immemorial, my father’s people, the Potawatomi of the Anishinaabek Nation, have traversed, managed, and lived in peace in the Great Lakes – the world’s largest freshwater lakes. Known as “the Firekeepers,” my people have been designated diplomats and treaty negotiators and are destined to maintain the allegory of “Firekeeper.” Maintaining cultural practices tied to land stewardship and social structures of family, the ‘fire’ is our nation. Fire is resilient, recovering from environmental changes over time if maintained. This resilience is often tested in modern times, as when I stand at the center of my homelands, the modern border of the US and Canada separates us.

My ancestral lands have been severed, and each time I stand at the heart of my nation, I sense the profound weight of my people’s history. This border inflicts a deep scar, relegating my people to the status of outsiders on both sides despite our shared history marked by genocide and erasure. My people exist but are defined by the “other.’ I am an Indigenous person on both sides of the border. Labeled as “savage,” “barbaric,” and “primitive” within colonial laws, I am subjected to the dual roles of immigrant and citizen to each government.

Despite these labels, I am simply Potawatomi. My nation is an Indigenous “fourth-world” nation—a sovereign nation historically denied the right to self-determination and disadvantaged by the so-called “developed” countries. The term “fourth-world” nation highlights the unique status of Indigenous nations that are sovereign yet marginalized within the borders of the modern nation-state.

I have crossed the border many times in my life using only my Indigenous status card—a card that distinguishes Indigenous peoples by blood quantum [to practice the rights of the nation’s sovereignty]. Crossing the border is a right granted by the 1794 Jay Treaty between Canada’s Head of State and the U.S. This treaty grants Indigenous nations that straddle the border the right to cross freely, practice Aboriginal rights, and work, live, and study. The U.S. formally recognizes this treaty as legally binding (de jure), but Canada treats it as merely customary (de facto) without full legal recognition. This is a cynical example of the marginalization of Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty in both Canada and the U.S. To the US this treaty is legally binding with no different interpretations. Ironically, for Canada, it is simply symbolic but not entirely legally binding based on conceptions of Indigenous peoples.

To be an “Indigenous” person, I must possess 50% “Indian” blood and prove this with a status card to cross the border. Having to prove this identity allows both sides of the border to regulate our crossings, yet the difference in the Jay Treaty’s legal recognition creates a paradox: Indigenous nations are sovereign, but technically, we are no longer truly sovereign entities. Border crossings make this clear, as we cannot practice our rights freely. Different interpretations of the treaty grant both sides of the border the right to regulate Indigenous affairs, notwithstanding traditional perceptions of sovereignty dictate a foreign nation cannot interfere within a different sovereign nation.

The 21st century continues to portray Indigenous peoples as “a thing of the past,” as a people “dominated by the Europeans, civilized by them, or dead by their hatred,” making the impacts of Indigenous genocide clearly persist today. These narratives foster a false belief that we no longer exist or are important. This erasure directly affects the recognition of Indigenous peoples and the challenges we face. Understanding this history is essential to grasp the ongoing violence and discrimination Indigenous communities endure in both Canada and the U.S.

This is my story of successfully mobilizing to confront settler-colonial institutions for Indigenous sovereignty. What started with racist actions resulted in something that goes beyond symbolic recognition of Indigenous issues. In[3]  the fall of 2023, the University of Toronto (UofT)—a global academic institution and Canada’s top university—recognized Indigenous sovereignty by acknowledging the Jay Treaty for all Indigenous students on Canada’s southern border.[6]   These treaties are ignored in the domestic law of Canada; however, educational institutes can interpret these treaties for their policies to advance their initiatives with Indigenous peoples.

A Milestone of Recognition: UofT’s Steps Towards Reconciliation

As a sovereign nation by international law through treaties with the U.S. and Canada, crossing both sides of the colonial border is part of our nation’s sovereign right. Yet, when the treaties are put into practice, the brutal relationship between Indigenous nations and settler-colonial institutions—characterized by ignorance, hate, erasure, and denial of the past—becomes evident, perpetuating the marginalization of Indigenous peoples as a thing of the past.

Frustrated by Canada and UofT’s lack of awareness of Indigenous treaties, I decided to voice my concerns with the interlocutor of the university—UofT’s Graduate Student Union (Student Union). The Student Union’s president booked a meeting with me right away. When we met online, she first noted my lack of “typical” North American Indigenous features.

I must have forgotten my braids and feathers at home that day.

I brought up the issue of Indigenous sovereignty, and she was unaware of the subject, even though there is a federal mandate through Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Truth Commission) to discuss it in educational institutions. Although “reconciliation” is supposed to restore the relationship between two entities, I was met with actions that showed anything but.

Her response: “Everyone is Indigenous from somewhere,” and to talk about Indigenous issues means “to talk about all people’s issues.”

Her comment is not uncommon in the status quo of Canada and the U.S. Yet, remarks like these still hurt people like me deeply. I am racialized into the structure of both nations as an “Indigenous person” and subjected to racial inequality, being seen as poor, uneducated, unequal, and, worst of all, unimportant. By framing Indigenous peoples’ issues as everybody’s issues, it perpetuates the colonial narrative that Indigenous peoples and colonialism are “things of the past.”

Every time I look in the mirror, I see the product of resilience to colonialism and centuries of genocide and violence my ancestors endured, especially in boarding schools. “Save the Man, Kill the Indian” was the infamous policy creating cultural genocide to my ancestors. Years of sexual violence and genocide aimed to make Indigenous peoples “white,” resulting in generations of children being assimilated into the dominant culture or murdered. 

The ignorance and denial from the Student Union president motivated me to take action. To advocate against this treatment and the dismissal of my concerns, I adopted a tactic commonly used by many Indigenous nations to assert Indigenous sovereignty: promoting change within higher education institutions. The Canadian Truth Commission’s 94 Calls to Action mandate higher education to discuss the past injustices faced by Indigenous peoples to bring reconciliation. This is where UofT’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives, an executive administrative department created by the Truth Commission’s federal mandate to advance Indigenous rights and recognition, played a crucial role. I brought my dialogue with the Student Union president to the Senior Director, an Indigenous womxn.

By bringing the topic of treaties to the administration of UofT, the question of settler-colonialism’s impacts on Indigenous nations provided the opportunity to analyze the issue of sovereignty further. The existence of colonial borders has impacted many Indigenous nations. About the Truth Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, the reconciliation of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples needs better implementation in Canadian institutions. By proposing that UofT has the potential to be a leader in this matter, we brought attention to the Student Union’s perception that Indigenous peoples and their issues are a thing of the past.

As a result of my situation as an Indigenous student visiting the other side of his homelands, on October 11, 2023, UofT President Eric Gartner officially recognized the Jay Treaty. This recognition is not just a change in policy but a significant step toward acknowledging the rights of Indigenous nations. All Indigenous nations in the U.S. are now considered “domestic” students for tuition at UofT. The Student Union president was also voted out of her position soon after. As educational institutions in Canada historically assimilated Indigenous peoples, the Student Union president’s ignorance was incompatible with addressing Indigenous students’ concerns.

By acknowledging the Jay Treaty, UofT significantly reduces financial burdens for Indigenous students and affirms their sovereignty. This action sets a crucial precedent: Universities can use symbolic gestures and recognition to implement actionable policies that support reconciliation. UofT’s recognition of the Jay Treaty is a form of reconciliation that restores the past relationship between Indigenous nations and Canada outside of state institutions.

Indigenous sovereignty is a global struggle that cannot be ignored, denied, or forgotten, as it relates to more than self-determination; it relates to all living beings. Since time immemorial, Indigenous sovereignty has been tied to ancestral lands and the protection of all beings—human and non-human—and the ethical relationship for its longevity for the next seven generations. In an era of climate crisis, Indigenous sovereignty is crucial for the environment, people, animals, and plants. Although this is a small victory for “fourth-world” nations, much more work is needed for reconciliation on a global scale to restore the past injustices of colonialism. I am hopeful that my story can help others who share this same struggle in finding pathways to reconciliation.

ᒦgᐌᒡᐦ  [Thank You]. 

This text received comments and editorial contributions from Carmen Mestizo, coordinator of the Ethnic-Racial Justice line.