The narrative highlights the impact of colonialism on Indigenous people, focusing on themes such as identity, authority, and land rights. Through various stories and poems, the text illustrates how Indigenous identities were often ignored or suppressed, as exemplified by a mother who identifies as Blackfoot but is pressured to declare herself as Canadian or American at a border.
Indigenous Discrimination shown through short stories, poems and real life examples
Stories
Poems
Real Life Examples
Residential Schools
RCMP
Land Back Movemnet, 94 Calls to action
Christopher Columbus in our history books "found" Canada.
Thomas King based Border on a real life experience that he went through at the Border between Canada and the US.
Movie: Lone Ranger(2013),
Cultural Appropriation is shown in this movie with this character, Tonto.
Indian Singing in 20th Century America
Stone Mother
The motivation for the Land Back movement could be a result to the treatment and how they're identity and nationhood was neglected, for example in the story borders the guard insists on the mother to identify as Canadian or American to cross the border, but she being Blackfoot did not identify as either, she belives Blackfoot is not Canadian or American.
Footprints in the Snow
Borders
In borders the mother identified as Blackfoot but the guard insisted if they were from the American or Canadian side.
Totem
“Totem” is about the land of the first nations, yet they are compelled to live in reserves, and the government and colonized people view them as nothing more than a burden by virtue of their sheer existence.
Magpies
Joe the Painter and the Deer Island Massacre
Deer Island Massacre is a recurring theme to the Coyote Columbus Story because Indigenous people were dehumanized
A Seat in the Garden
Both Joe's make an assumption that Indigenous people wear feathers in their hair and wear clothing that movies portrayed Indigenous people as.
The RCMP was made because of an attack on Indigenous People and to enforce Canadian authority on settlers on the land
The RCMP Aactually physically forced and harmed Indigenous peoples to move into their reserves and to do certain things
Joe and Red learn nothing about Indigenous People and make assumptions about Indigenous culture.
A Coyote Columbus Story
Christopher Columbus took Indigenous People because they thought he had authority over them