The narrator's mother announces that she and her son will travel to Salt Lake City to visit Laetitia.

The narrator and his mother stop at a convenience store in Coutts before approaching the US border.

A US border guard asks the mother her citizenship; she answers that she is Blackfoot.

The guard resets the interaction, hears 'Blackfoot' again, and goes to find a second officer.

A second guard explains he just needs to know which side they are from; the mother says 'Blackfoot side.'

Border officers bring the mother and son inside a building to speak with a supervisor named Inspector Pratt.

The narrator tries to tell Inspector Pratt they are Canadian Blackfoot, but she cannot accept information from a minor.

The border authorities turn the family away from the American side and send them back toward Canada.

The Canadian border officer also demands the mother choose between Canadian and American rather than accepting 'Blackfoot.'

Stuck between borders, the mother and son spend the day in the duty-free store and meet a clerk named Mel.

Mother and son sleep in their car and attempt another crossing the next morning, facing the same refusal.

Television news crews arrive at the border and begin filming the family's standoff with border patrol.

A professional-looking man approaches the mother and speaks with her privately, after which she decides to move.

The family drives to the border one final time, and the officer accepts 'Blackfoot' and waves them through.

The narrator and his mother arrive in Salt Lake City and reunite with Laetitia over a restaurant dinner.

The story follows a Blackfoot mother and her young son as they attempt to cross the US-Canada border to visit her daughter Laetitia in Salt Lake City. At the crossing, the mother refuses to identify herself as Canadian or American, insisting only on 'Blackfoot' as her citizenship. Border officers on both sides refuse to let the family through, leaving them stranded in the duty-free zone between countries. After days of failed attempts and sleeping in their car, television news crews arrive and begin filming the standoff. Media attention forces the officers' hand, and the family is finally waved through when the mother again claims 'Blackfoot.' They arrive in Salt Lake City and are joyfully reunited with Laetitia over dinner.

The headline events of the border crossing standoff.

Laetitia and her boyfriend Lester enthusiastically discuss moving to Salt Lake City while the mother dismisses the idea.

Laetitia and Lester break up, but Laetitia continues to dream of moving to Salt Lake City on her own.

Laetitia sends away for a packet of Salt Lake City brochures, which her mother dismisses as too good to be true.

While watching television one evening, Laetitia abruptly decides the reservation is boring and she is ready to leave.

The narrator tells his mother about Laetitia's plan to leave, which angers Laetitia greatly.

Despite the argument, Laetitia packs all her belongings and prepares to leave that same weekend.

On the day Laetitia departs, the family stops at a convenience store and the mother complains about the coffee.

The family stops at an abandoned museum near the border; the mother sends the narrator to check if it is open.

Laetitia collects her belongings from the car and walks alone the short distance to the US border post.

The family waves goodbye to Laetitia from the museum steps and then drives back home to the reservation.

Laetitia sends regular postcards reporting that she is happy; the mother is visibly put off when Laetitia suggests they visit.

The narrator muses that the town of Sweetgrass sounds like it should be on the Canadian side, not Coutts.

Mel tells the mother and her son that getting justice is hard but they should not give up.

Laetitia takes her mother and brother to the ski resort, temple, and shopping centers she admired in the brochures.

On the drive home, the narrator watches the flagpoles and water tower Laetitia pointed out disappear behind them.

The backstory follows Laetitia's gradual decision to leave the Blackfoot reservation for Salt Lake City, driven by curiosity about the outside world despite her mother's constant disapproval. After breaking up with her boyfriend Lester, Laetitia independently pursues her dream, packing her bags and walking to the US border on her own terms. The family waves her off with mixed emotions, and she goes on to build a life in Salt Lake City while sending postcards home. Years later, during the border standoff, the duty-free clerk Mel becomes an unlikely ally who expresses solidarity with the family's cause. When the mother and son finally reach Salt Lake City, Laetitia proudly tours them through the city she had dreamed about for years, before hinting she may be ready to return home.

Laetitia's departure and the story's supporting moments.

The mother dresses herself and her son nicely before they set out toward the US border.

The narrator watches the border guards approach their car like cowboys headed for a bar or gunfight.

The narrator thinks it would be easier to just say 'Canadian,' but he knows his mother will never do that.

Inspector Pratt offers to keep the mother's citizenship answer off the official form, but the mother still refuses.

The mother exits the Canadian border officers' building without saying a word, having made no concession.

The narrator notes that all the border officers carry guns as the family waits between the two borders.

Mel expresses disbelief and astonishment that the border patrol would refuse to let a mother and her son through.

That night, the mother takes her son outside and teaches him the constellations her grandmother once showed her.

A reporter asks the narrator how it feels to be an Indian without a country; he responds by describing his home and cousins.

The border officer's reluctant body language reveals he is accepting 'Blackfoot' only because of media and public pressure.

Television reporters run alongside the crossing car for as long as they can, then wave from the middle of the highway.

Laetitia reveals she saw the family's crossing on the news and repeatedly asks them to retell the story over dinner.

After a week in Salt Lake City, the narrator feels relieved when his mother says it is time to go home.

Laetitia tells her mother she is thinking of moving back to the reservation; the narrator notes she said she would.

The mother and son stop at Mel's duty-free store on their way home and give him a Salt Lake City hat.

This pool captures the pivotal moments that define the story's emotional and thematic core, from the family's deliberate preparation for the border crossing to the unexpected role that media pressure plays in resolving their standoff. The narrator's internal conflict — wanting to just say 'Canadian' while his mother holds firm — reveals the generational tension running through the story. Inspector Pratt's private offer of a compromise highlights how even empathetic officers are ultimately bound by a system that cannot account for Indigenous identity. The story's emotional climax arrives when the mother shares her grandmother's constellation stories with her son under the night sky, passing down cultural knowledge in quiet defiance. The standoff ends not through legal change but through public scrutiny, a bittersweet resolution underscoring both the power and the limits of media attention. The story closes with Laetitia hinting she will return home, completing a quiet but significant arc about belonging.