Indian Trackers vs. Smugglers

"At a time when all manner of high technology is arriving to help beef up security at the Mexican border — infrared cameras, sensors, unmanned drones — there is a growing appreciation among the federal authorities for the American Indian art of tracking, honed over generations by ancestors hunting animals," the* Times* is reporting.

The Shadow Wolves, a federal law enforcement unit of Indian officers that has operated since the early 1970s on this vast Indian nation straddling the Mexican border [here's a 2003 Smithsonian profile -- nms]... is recruiting members to reach the congressionally authorized complement of 21. And the immigration agency is considering forming a sister unit to patrol part of the
Canadian border at the Blackfeet reservation in Montana, where concern about drug trafficking is growing.

“Detecting is one thing, and apprehending is something entirely different,” said Rodney Irby, a special agent in Tucson for the immigration agency who helps supervise the Shadow Wolves. “I applaud the technology; it will only make the border more secure. But there are still going to be groups of people who penetrate the most modern technology, and we need a cadre of agents and officers to apprehend them.”

For years, the American attitude towards security these days, seems to be that no problem can't be fixed by throwing a gizmo at it. So we get "phraselators," instead of language training; spy drones, instead of foot patrols. But not every security question has a gee-whiz-techno answer. It's nice to see when these simpler, more sensible approaches are taken.