Several Indigenous peoples who live on the United States–Mexico border have objected to the construction of a border wall on their territories and what they perceive as the militarization of the border by the United States government. The US–Mexico border crosses several Indigenous territories and divides these communities. The barrier erected between the United States and Mexico cuts through and/or affects at least 29 Indigenous tribes, which include Kumeyaay Nation and Tohono O'odham.
Increased efforts by the US government at border control, beginning in the 1980s, and the construction of a physical border wall, beginning in the 1990s, along the US-Mexico boundary, have significantly impacted tribal nations. Whether it be disrupting the movement of tribal members across the US-Mexico border by requiring the use of a specific port of entry or specific documentation or the destruction of Native territory, the border had significant implications. In response, the Tohono O'odham and the Kumeyaay nations, among others, have engaged in protests against the barrier.
History Creation of the US-Mexico border The border between the United States and Mexico was formed through treaties and negotiations that often failed to include Indigenous peoples in the negotiations and conversations.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed after the Mexican-American War, and it drew a demarcation between the United States and Mexico. Additionally, Article XI of this treaty puts Indigenous tribes under the control of the United States and also allows restrictions of Indigenous movements across the border, while also honoring land claims of Mexican citizens. Some tribal nations were able to obtain said land grants, but those tribes who did not live in established villages were unable to receive land grants. Thus, their territory rights were not honored in this treaty nor by the United States. Native Americans, including those who were impacted by this treaty, were excluded from conversations and negotiations between the United States and Mexico. Furthermore, governments of the United States and Mexico both failed to consider Indigenous homelands and sites of spiritual significance when creating the border. It is additionally argued creation of the border also included creation of citizenship which led to the restriction of free travel and a plethora of other issues.
Around five years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, the Gadsden Purchase modified the earlier boundary For $10 million, United States bought 30,000 square miles which makes up present-day the southernmost regions of southern Arizona and southern New Mexico. A primary reason for this purchase was the desire to build a transcontinental railroad. The same protections provided in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo still applied to the residents in this newly added tract of land.
Border wall construction and militarization
In the 1990s during the administration of American President George W. Bush, 14 miles of border wall were constructed near San Diego, California. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 additionally fortified that 14 mile stretch of wall as part of efforts to reduce illegal immigration. Other legislation, such as the Secure Fence Act, have expanded upon those initial 14 miles of wall. Further expansion of wall construction occurred with President Donald Trump's Executive Order: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements. In order to reduce the amount of drugs and human-trafficking instances and to crack down on immigration, the United States began militarizing the border. The war on drugs in the 1980s led to Border Patrol agents expanding their duties from immigration duties to drug enforcement, which included, at times, collaboration with the military.
Tribal nations' borders
Various Indigenous groups inhabited the modern region of the American-Mexican border for thousands of years before Europeans, and often had their own conflicts over territory and resources.Spicer, Edward H. Cycles of Conquest: The Impact of Spain, Mexico, and the United States on the Indians of the Southwest, 1533–1960. Illustrated by Hazel Fontana, University of Arizona Press, 1962. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1220r6w. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.“Jumano Indians.” Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/jumano-indians. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026. The Apache and Navajo, in particular, were aggressively expansionist and displaced a number of other Indigenous groups.Webb, Daniel. Mapping the Apachería: American Indian Sovereignty and State Power in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, 18th–19th c. University of Chicago, 2017. UChicago Knowledge, https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/records/y4x9s-t6b46. The Kickapoo were lived in what is now Ohio at the time of contact with Europeans, and migrated south and west eventually settling in and around the US-Mexico border. the border region of what is now the Several nations, regardless of when they established themselves in the region, had sacred lands, resources, and members that extended beyond the border created after the Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase, and with the creation of such a border also came the creation of citizenship which led to the restriction of free travel, jurisdictional issues, and a plethora of other issues. For instance, a tribal nation that spans the border might offer citizenship to all people regardless of location, but the states in which they exist may not recognize them as citizens of their locale. This citizenship issue particularly along the United States and Mexico border has many implications including limiting travel amongst members of a tribal nations and providing resources and services to a fragment of the tribal population.
Tribal nations that span the border include: Apaches Cocopah / Cucapá Kickapoo / Kikapú Kumeyaay / Kumiai O'odham Pai Yaqui / Yoeme
Many of these tribes are units comprising multiple nations. For instance, the Kumeyaay nation is made up of thirteen reservations in the United States and four communities in Mexico.
Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay initially were located along the Pacific coastline, but they were later forced inland towards present-day San Diego and occupied territory that would later span the United States and Mexico border. Kumeyaay initially responded to encounters with the Spaniards with violence, but after two of the Kumeyaay's raid attempts failed, they resorted to tolerance. However this short respite did not last long as Spanish missions began to interfere with the Kumeyaay peoples. Over the almost forty years (1768-1822) that missions were present in the Kumeyaay region, the relationship was characterized by intermittent violence and reshaping boundaries. In 1821, Mexican Independence did not bring peace between the new nation and the Kumeyaay people. It did however mark a change in relationship as the Kumeyaay successfully raided surrounding ranchos and left the San Diego mission town weakened by 1846. The Kumeyaay advances to the coast combined with Quechan resistance to the Colorado River, cut off land routes from Alta California to the rest of Mexico, further splitting Alta California from Mexico economically and unintentionally forming the formation of the state's southern border. In 1848, the Americans arrive to fight the Mexican American War; the Kumeyaay offered their assistance, but their services were declined. Although they were not allied with the Americans, the Kumeyaay people still took revenge against the Mexicans for wrongdoings towards the end of the war. The war between Mexico and the United States ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but it failed to include the Kumeyaay and other tribes in negotiations. Land disputes, violence, and territory loss lasted for many years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo because of the massive influx of people participating in the California Gold Rush. The Kumeyaay, and more broadly American Indians, were subjected to legalized forced servitude for four months if an American Indian was unemployed. In 1851, the San Diego government required the Native Americans to pay taxes, and if not, their land may be confiscated. There were many legislative and political decisions made in an effort to obtain the territory of the Kumeyaay and other tribes.
Tohono O'odham The Tohono O'odham people were historically established in the Papagueria region, which crosses present-day state lines and national borders. Similarly to the Kumeyaay peoples, the Tohono O'odham peoples were subjected to dealing with Spanish colonization, Mexican Independence, the Mexican-American War, and the Gadsden purchase. Spanish missionaries were present in the region, and helped protect the Tohono O'odham people from being subjected to forced servitudes. However, when Mexican Independence was achieved, this protection diminished and Mexicans encroached upon their territory and violence ensued, yet the violence lessened between the 1830s and 1850s. Mexicans also began to further encroach upon the Tohono O'odham territory, which increased tensions and hostilities, but these concerns were reduced with the Gadsden Purchase. For the next few decades, the tensions and violence shifted from colonists to the Apache, but when the United States did not honor the land rights, the United States government established reservations to end land disputes, which did not encompass their entire traditional territory. On the other hand, the Mexican government did not initially create a reservation, so the Mexican people continued to encroach upon Tohono O'odham lands, which in turn led to violence. Many of the Tohono O'odham fled to the United States, but a few remained in Mexico.
Issues
Militarization of border