Source: The Vancouver Sun
Wire Service: Reuters
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=6bd56183-0614-480c-9c4c-8f673ac410b4
The U.S. border inspector at this lonely desert crossing with Mexico fingers the tribal enrollment card decorated with a wooden staff and eagle feathers, and glances at the holder's photograph.
Tohono O'odham elder Ofelia Rivas, 51, has used the document to cross between the tribe's ceremonial sites in Mexico and her home in Arizona for years, but the inspector tells her that it will soon no longer be valid for international travel.
The U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in January will require U.S. citizens to present government photo ID, such as a driver's license, plus proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, when they enter the United States by land or sea.
The measure, which is to be followed by requirements for a passport by June 2009, is causing confusion and anxiety among some Native American tribes that straddle the United States' borders with Mexico and Canada.
According to the National Congress of American Indians, there are around 40 U.S. tribes whose members cross regularly over the northern and southwestern borders, some to work and visit kin, others to attend ceremonies at traditional sites.
With implementation of the new travel rules looming in just a few weeks, some tribal members say it is still unclear whether enrollment documents issued by their own tribal governments will be acceptable at the borders, and are unsure if they can meet the new travel ID requirements if they are obliged to comply.