Proofing Exemption: Documenting Indigeneity at the Canada–US Border

Abstract

Document exemption is a form of documentation built upon maintaining documentary regimes while seemingly obviating them. An inquiry into this exemption expands anthropological assumptions about documentation. This article discusses forms of exemption instituted for Indigenous residents of the Akwesasne Mohawk territory when they cross the Canada–US border. I show how customary, de facto exemption from providing travel documents to border officers represented a workable way for Akwesasne residents and border officers to enact seemingly incompatible visions of sovereignty. De jure exemption for Akwesasne residents from paying taxes on cross-border goods, while locally desirable, also shows how “proving” one's status as can result in more state intrusion.