I think this week’s topics on borders and boundaries made me think about my personal experiences back home. I’ve seen the southern border between Mexico and the United States, and I’ve seen the trouble and misery that surround it on almost a daily basis. I’ve personally seen many mostly mexican-american/Latino families be divided by our southern border, but I have also seen and met many people who are Indigenous American and a part of the Tohono O’odham community along with people who are a part of the Pascua Yaqui tribe and seen and heard the issues they’ve dealt with regarding being separated from their families by a simple line that was drawn by those with power.
When we discussed the northern border between Canada and the United States, I was taken aback by the stark difference in visual condition, placement, and lack of militarism along that border. I am sure that there are still many difficulties and issues along that border however, as we viewed and discussed the northern border I just kept thinking about how much worse the southern border was in comparison, it’s probably just the southern Arizona kid coming out of me but I couldn’t help but think that the northern border was laughable compared to the U.S. / Mexican border. Again I’m sure that the northern border between Canada and the U.S. still has many issues, I just personally didn’t feel like I saw many.
I think it’s important to realize just how powerful it is to romanticize an area/ terrain because it creates unrealistic expectations of that area. We saw an example of this when we discussed how in the mid-nineteenth century the American West was portrayed as open and was a land that was free for the taking, which was incredibly incorrect. This then unfortunately led to a rise of colonialism and expansion that continued to wrong so many indigenous nations, tribes, and communities. That’s why I think the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916, and the Wilderness Act of 1964 (from class lecture) helped protect many current American national parks and areas from becoming very different/ and or horrifying.