Borders Storyboard

The mother announces that they are going tovisit Leatitia, herdaughter. The boy was excited that they were going to see Leatitia, his sister. She moved out and left the Blackfoot reserve when he was 8 years old. Because Leatitia's father was American, she could come and go as she pleases.

When the mother and the boy got to the American Border, the guard had to ask somestandard questions. The last question he asks the mother is what their citizenship is. She replies, "Blackfoot." The guard explains that she has to be American orCanadian. Then, he askes her the question again. When she gives the same answer, he takes her to the border control building for questioning.

The guard escorts the mother into the office. She waits to see an officer. The officer asks the mother to state her citizenship as American or Canadian and states that she won't write it down. The officer offers to keep it a secret. The mother is proud of her heritage does not agree to say she is American or Canadian. The mother thanks to the officer for her time.

When the mother finally got out of the office, they got into the car and drove to the duty store that was between the borders. They walked around inside for some time. In the evening, they had to sleep in their car in the parking lot. The storekeeper had closed up and saw the family sitting in their car as he was leaving. The storekeeper was concerned and offered tohelp.

After their second night between the borders, a bunch of reporters showed up asking questions about their border situation. The reporters asked, "How does it feel to not belong to a country?" Most of the reporters only asked the mother questions. Occasionally, the reporters would ask the boy some questions.

Later in the day, a guy in a nice car, wearing a nice suit came over to the mother to talk. They talked for a while. When they were done talking, the mother and the boy got into their car and drove to the American border. The boy asked, "Are we going to see Laetitia now?" The mother replied, "Yes!" This time when the guard asked them for their citizenship, there was not a problem when the mother said Blackfoot.