Indigenous Nations Plan Tariff-Free Trade Corridor Across US-Canada border
This story was originally published by Canada’s National Observer and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Just west of Fort Qu’Appelle in Saskatchewan, the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation is working across the US border to revive centuries-old trade routes as part of a new Indigenous-governed trade corridor. Trucks from the First Nation could soon be […]
This story was originally published by Canada’s National Observer and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Just west of Fort Qu’Appelle in Saskatchewan, the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation is working across the US border to revive centuries-old trade routes as part of a new Indigenous-governed trade corridor.
Trucks from the First Nation could soon be transporting food, furniture and even critical minerals south of the border along ancestral pathways once used to move buffalo hides and pemmican across the plains—without paying taxes or tariffs.
For generations, Indigenous peoples freely exchanged goods, knowledge and culture across the land that is now divided by the Canada–US border. Those networks were disrupted by colonial laws that divided families and communities but they are now being reimagined as a modern supply chain grounded in Indigenous law and sovereignty.
“We’re operationalizing our old corridors—taking ancient trade routes our elders told us about and articulating them in a modern context,” said Solomon Cyr, spokesperson for Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation.
The First Nation plans to formalize its partnership with the Fort Peck Sioux Tribes, in Montana, next week by signing a memorandum of understanding to advance the trade corridor and its infrastructure development.
The corridor intends to use traditional routes traversing Dakota territories in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and into the United States, reviving the historic Oceti Sakowin trade network, a historic alliance of seven Dakota, Lakota and Nakota Indigenous groups united by kinship, language and spiritual beliefs. The shared trade routes historically facilitated economic and military ties across their territories. “We have a lot of history, and even to this day, ties linking us to our relatives,” said Rodger Redman, chief of the nation.
“There was a promise to our people that we would continue to trade and be allowed to trade in our traditional territories.”
Redman said this corridor is not symbolic, but rather an economic engine for the countries. Standing Buffalo is located in a region rich with critical minerals vital to global industries including renewable energy and technology. By owning the corridor, Indigenous nations can control the movement of these resources and expand economic opportunities for their communities.
The plan includes a $2-billion infrastructure proposal submitted to Canada’s Privy Council aimed at developing core projects such as a cross-border trade portal, renewable energy corridors and smart transportation networks.
“We’re not only talking about natural gas or oil pipelines,” Cyr said. “We’re talking about furniture, anything connected to the GDP that moves on trucks, trains or pipelines that can be tax exempt, so long as the products move from point A to point B.”
It is currently the only Indigenous nation actively pursuing a trade corridor of this kind, which could transform commerce between the United States and Canada. “It’s a very distinctive and powerful world-class application of an old Indigenous order of operations,” Cyr said.
Redman said the initiative is part of a centuries-old relationship with the British Crown and Indigenous allies, noting that the nation never ceded its land or jurisdiction.
“There was a promise to our people that we would continue to trade and be allowed to trade in our traditional territories. Today, we are operationalizing those promises made by the Crown that we would continue to trade in our personal territory,” he said.
The promise Redman is referring to is the Jay Treaty, a 1794 agreement between the United States and Great Britain that recognizes the right of Indigenous peoples to freely cross the US-Canada border for trade and travel.
Nadir André, a partner at JFK Law with extensive experience in Aboriginal Law, said the Jay Treaty is the only legal source that could facilitate such movement. But while the United States acknowledges and enforces the treaty’s provisions, Canada has never acknowledged the treaty. In fact, a Supreme Court decision from the early 2000s, known as the Mitchell case, found that the Jay Treaty is not enforceable in Canada.
The court also ruled that there is no clear Aboriginal right under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution allowing Indigenous peoples to bring goods across the border for trade purposes. If a First Nation fuel company wanted to bring fuel from Canada to sell in the United States, under US law this is allowed without paying duty taxes or tariffs. However, the reverse—bringing goods from the US into Canada—is not legally recognized.
“We were called refugees and treated in a discriminatory fashion… Now, with constitutional protections, we’re asserting sovereignty.”
“If it’s not bilateral, then it defeats the purpose, because then it would only confer an advantage to Canadian First Nations doing trade in the ‘States and it would not be a counterpart for the American tribes to be able to trade in Canada,” he said.
John Desjarlais, executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network, believes this initiative could serve as another test of the Jay Treaty, which could set a precedent for other First Nations creating trade corridors and opportunities in resources such as timber, oil, and mining, as well as long-term manufacturing. However, many questions remain.
“We’re pushing jurisdictional boundaries and sovereignty within Canada. What does that mean in the broader turmoil of cross‑border trade between Canada and the US? What does protected, tax‑ and tariff‑free trade look like?”
André said there’s also concern that without clear verification processes, non-Indigenous companies could misuse the system by falsely claiming Indigenous status.
He said considerations for the corridor extend beyond customs lines, involving strict environmental, health and safety regulations, as well. Many products, such as lumber and drinking water, require adherence to such standards. “Would you allow drinkable water as a trade? Could you bring water by bulk from Canada to the States through this initiative? Or would it be limited to certain items that are already allowed for trading?”
Governance is another significant challenge. Canada’s trade regulations come under the jurisdiction of multiple layers of government—provinces, territories and federal departments—while the US adds its own complexity with 51 states, each having separate rules. Coordinating among all these authorities will be a daunting task.
André recalled that similar efforts have been made before, such as during the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2016, but none succeeded.
For the nation, this initiative is a breakthrough.
Until 2024, the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation was not officially recognized as an Indigenous nation in Canada. That year, the Canadian government apologized for this mistake and formally recognized Standing Buffalo and eight other Dakota and Lakota First Nations as Aboriginal peoples, granting them constitutional protections under Section 35. “We were called refugees and treated in a discriminatory fashion without rights or recognition. Now, with constitutional protections, we’re asserting sovereignty over our lands and trade,” Cyr said.
Redman has been actively advancing the trade corridor through international diplomacy, including high-level meetings in Mexico City with officials from CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement), which replaced the former NAFTA agreement. He said that while the nation continues to wait for Canada to formally recognize its sovereignty and legal framework, officials from Mexico and the US have shown greater openness to work together.
The nation has also established its own consultation frameworks and environmental oversight processes to ensure that its voices and rights remain central in developments on their lands. The funding for their initiative is expected to come from multiple sources including the First Nations Finance Authority, the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, nation’s capital, and other investment partnerships.
“We’re not begging for crumbs anymore. We’re demanding what’s rightly ours and share our responsibility to Mother Earth,” Redman said. “We’re asserting our sovereignty. We’re here to give them notice that we have our trade corridor and we’re implementing that.”
