Borders

“Borders” is a short story by Thomas King originally published in his 1993 collection One Good Story, That One. The story was adapted into a graphic novel in 2021, featuring the artwork of Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan. King is a Canadian author with Indigenous ancestry, and he has dedicated his studies and work to engaging with issues of Indigenous identity, citizenship, and culture. This guide refers to the original 1993 edition of “Borders,” not the 2021 adaptation.

The narrator, an unnamed Blackfoot boy, tells the story in the past tense from a first-person perspective. Other significant characters are his unnamed mother and his sister Laetitia, who is about 10 years older than he is. The narrator mentions that his father is American and not part of his life.

The narration switches between two stories five years apart. The first leads up to Laetitia’s departure for Salt Lake City, while the second follows the narrator and his mother on a trip to Salt Lake City. The separation between these two stories is not always obvious, and the earlier story is not told in chronological order. The story in which Laetitia leaves for Salt Lake City is characterized by the mother’s critical attitude toward her daughter’s decision; in the story of the mother and son, the central tension is the mother’s conflict with border patrol officers. Most of the story takes place on the Canada-US border between Coutts, Alberta, and Sweetgrass, Montana.

The narrative starts with the latter story when the narrator’s mother informs him they are going to visit Laetitia in Salt Lake City. The narrator then switches to the time before Laetitia’s departure. The narrator recalls the day Laetitia left Canada; he and his mother drive her to the US border. The family stops at a convenience store to buy coffee and soda, and the narrator’s mother is clearly upset by her daughter’s decision to leave. After leaving the convenience store, the family stops at an abandoned museum. The narrator’s mother tells him to check when the museum opens despite the building’s decay being a clear indicator that it is abandoned. The narrator notes that, as he lingered on the museum steps, he watched his mother and sister sit in the car and not exchange a word. Laetitia gets her belongings out of the car and walks the short distance from the museum to the border. The family waves to Laetitia and returns home. The narrator mentions that Laetitia sent them postcards regularly and appeared happy. In these correspondences, Laetitia suggests that her mother and brother come to visit, but her mother is visibly put off by that suggestion.

The narration switches to the Salt Lake City trip. The narrator is surprised when his mother starts to prepare to visit Laetitia. The narrator and his mother leave the reservation in Alberta for the border town of Coutts. They stop at the same convenience store they visited with Laetitia then drive toward the border station. The narrator notes that his mother drove abnormally slowly. At the border, a male border patrol officer approaches them and asks standard questions. When asked about her citizenship, the mother replies that she is Blackfoot. The border patrol officer asks her to repeat herself and, hearing the same answer, asks if she is Canadian. The mother affirms that she is Blackfoot and refuses to attach a colonial signifier (“Canadian” or “American”) to her identity.

The narrator thinks it would be simpler to say what the officer wants to hear and get on their way, but he knows his mother will not do that. The guard is not quick to anger and tries to reset the interaction, starting his greeting and questions from the beginning as if they have just pulled up at the gate. The mother again declares that they are Blackfoot. The guard instructs them to wait and goes to get another guard. The second guard acknowledges that there are Blackfoot citizens on the Canadian and American sides and that he just needs to know which side they are from for their records. The mother responds, “Blackfoot side” (136). The officers instruct them to come into a building, where they talk to a female officer named Inspector Pratt. Inspector Pratt acknowledges the tension between Indigenous nations and the settler-colonial state, saying, “I can understand how you feel about having to tell us your citizenship” (136). She offers to not write the information on the form but insists the mother tell her.

The narrator and his mother spend hours in the border patrol station because his mother will not give the officers the information they want. The narrator tries to tell Inspector Pratt that they are Canadian Blackfoot but, since he is a minor, she cannot take the information from him. Since the mother will not declare her citizenship in the way the officers want, the family is instructed to go back to Canada. The narrator is disappointed.

The narration switches back to the time before Laetitia left for the United States. The narrator reminisces about Laetitia and her then-boyfriend Lester talking about Salt Lake City, where Lester previously lived. While Lester and Laetitia are excitedly discussing moving to Salt Lake City, the mother interjects to tell them that everything they are looking for exists in Alberta, which is a common refrain for her character. The narrator notes that Laetitia and Lester broke up, but Laetitia continued to dream of Salt Lake City.

The story returns to the Salt Lake City trip timeline. The boy and his mother approach the Canadian border after the Americans turn them away. The same conversation takes place—the border patrol agent makes small talk, then asks about their citizenship. The mother simply responds “Blackfoot,” to which the border patrol officer replies that she must declare Canadian or American.

The narration switches again to the timeline before Laetitia left, noting that Laetitia sent away for a packet of Salt Lake City brochures. Her mother says, “That Salt Lake City place sounds too good to be true,” and “People in Salt Lake City are probably sending away for brochures of Calgary and Lethbridge and Pincher Creek right now” (139). These sentences continue the mother’s refrain that everything Laetitia finds exciting on the “other side” also exists at home—that home is special.

The narration returns to the Salt Lake City trip timeline. His mother speaks to the border patrol officers again and exits their office wordlessly, meaning no progress has been made on their border crossing. The mother and son drive toward the American border for a second time and spend the day wandering around the duty-free store, where they meet a shop owner named Mel. They sleep in their car and attempt another border crossing the next morning, but they experience the same line of questioning and spend another day in the duty-free store and parking lot.

The narration then switches for the last time to the period before Laetitia leaves. While watching a television program, Laetitia suddenly decides that the reservation is boring and she is ready to go to Salt Lake City. The narrator tells his mother when she gets home, which angers Laetitia. Despite her anger and her mother’s knowledge of her plan, she packs her bags that weekend.

The narrator switches back to the Salt Lake City trip. Mel, the duty-free store clerk, is in disbelief that they are not allowed across the border. That night, while they are sleeping in the car, the narrator hears his mother get out. He joins her outside, and she points out the stars her grandmother used to show her when she was a girl. She shows the constellations to her son and tells him the stories she learned as a girl. The next morning, television crews begin to arrive. They ask the narrator “how it felt to be an Indian without a country” (142). The narrator tells them that his family has a nice house and that his nearby cousins have horses, and they go fishing together.

A professional-looking man approaches his mother. After their conversation, the mother calls her son over to the family car. As his mother starts the car, Mel encourages them to not give up. The narrator asks where they are going, and his mother says they’re going to visit Laetitia. They pull up to the border gate amid blinding television lights. The same interaction they have had so many times plays out again. When the mother claims her citizenship as Blackfoot, the officer thanks her and sends them on their way. It is clear from the officer’s body language that he is begrudgingly letting them pass due to pressure from the media and perhaps his superiors. The television reporters run alongside the car for as long as they can and then stand in the middle of the highway, waving as the car disappears down the road.

The narrator and his mother arrive at Salt Lake City. Laetitia is excited because she saw them on the news the night before and keeps asking them to retell the story over a restaurant dinner. Laetitia takes them to all the places she admired in the brochures—the ski resort, the temple, and shopping centers. The mother remains critical.

The narrator grows bored after a week in Salt Lake City and is relieved when his mother says they need to go home even though Laetitia would like them to stay longer. Laetitia mentions that she is thinking of moving back, and her mother tells her to do as she pleases. The narrator says, “Laetitia said that she would” (144). The narrator and his mother stop at the duty-free shop where Mel works to give him a gift, a Salt Lake hat. On the way home, the narrator watches the flagpoles and water tower Laetitia pointed out disappearing behind them as they head home to the reservation.