COVID-19, States of Exception, and Indigenous Self-Determination

This chapter examines the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and territorial borders, focusing on the volatility and utilization of borders during times of crisis. This chapter highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and borders. Some Indigenous Peoples exercised self-determination by closing their borders despite antipathy from colonial states, and other transnational Indigenous Peoples were splintered due to state border closures. Though borders are often ascribed as a colonial phenomenon, this chapter notes that border-making and arbitration are both a present and historical practice for Indigenous Peoples. Thus, this chapter argues that borders can demonstrate self-determination and undermine it, highlighting the multiplicity of relationships between borders and Indigenous Peoples.