Framing Borders: Principle and Practicality in the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory

Framing Borders addresses a fundamental disjuncture between scholastic portrayals of settler colonialism and what actually takes place in Akwesasne Territory, the largest Indigenous cross-border community in Canada. Whereas most existing portrayals of Indigenous nationalism emphasize border crossing as a site of conflict between officers and Indigenous nationalists, in this book Ian Kalman observes a much more diverse range of interactions, from conflict to banality to joking and camaraderie. Framing Borders explores how border crossing represents a conversation where different actors "frame" themselves, the law, and the space that they occupy in diverse ways. Written in accessible, lively prose, Kalman addresses what goes on when border officers and Akwesasne residents meet, and what these exchanges tell us about the relationship between Indigenous actors and public servants in Canada. This book provides an ethnographic examination of the experiences of the border by Mohawk community members, the history of local border enforcement, and the paradoxes, self-contradictions, and confusions that underlie the border and its enforcement.

Table of Contents:
Prologue 1. Introduction 2. Welcome to Akwesasne 3. Doing History in Akwesasne 4. The Changing Face of the Cornwall/Akwesasne Border 5. Reporting-in to/from Akwesasne 6. Processing 7. Talking Borders Conclusion

About the Author :
Ian Kalman is a founding faculty member at Fulbright University Vietnam.

Review :
"This is a thought-provoking study. Though most scholarly attention to borderlands dynamics focuses on the conflicts inherent in such crossings, Kalman’s work reveals the far more nuanced nature of these interactions, predicated on the ways in which the various actors frame themselves in these often banal contacts. Ultimately, he shows, the diverse nature of these interactions—ranging from tense confrontational hassles to joking camaraderie—reveals ‘just how far into everyday life settler colonialism penetrates’ (p. 201). Kalman’s exposure and analysis of these micro-level ripple effects of macro-level historical developments make this a valuable contribution to an evolving body of scholarship." - M. R. Scherer, University of Nebraska-Omaha (CHOICE) "What if North America’s borders only exist in the context of the conversations we have with customs officers and port authorities? We rarely know when we have crossed the invisible line itself, but we do know when the conversation with the border services officer has ended and we are free to keep moving. That is, ‘crossing a border is often more a matter of which side of a conversation you find yourself on than which side of a line.’ This provocative insight is at the heart of anthropologist Ian Kalman’s excellent book Framing Borders." - Sheila McManus, University of Lethbridge (Canadian Journal of History)