CRJS-4401-001-Indigenous People and the Canadian Criminal Justice System

Indigenous Judicial Approach: Restorative Justice Restorative justice is unlike the traditional western retributive model of justice. The retributive justice model focuses on punishment as means of deterring crime (White, 2014, p. 2). Whereas, the restorative model focuses on restoring relations and healing between the offender, community, and the victim (White, 2014, p. 2).   The digital public service poster, above, is to provide information on restorative justice to the public. The poster highlights on facts about this justice model. The model stems from indigenous culture, which will be looked at in more depth. The history of restorative justice goes back to indigenous roots. Indigenous people are overrepresented in the Canadian corrections, and because of this there is a call to address this social issue (Department of Justice, 2017, para 16). The 30 th call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission sets out to address the overrepresentation and increas

Overrepresentation and Risk factors Video File:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d6qrv3nKds The link above is a video of an indigenous person talking about their personal perspective on the justice system and the overrepresentation of indigenous people in the justice system. The individual discusses their personal experience in the justice system. The individual came from a life of poverty. His caregivers used to steal food to make sure their family could eat, and the speaker in the informative YouTube video stole clothing at the age of 12 and that is when he had his first interaction with the justice system.  The goal of the video is to open discussion on the social issue of indigenous overrepresentation in the Canadian Criminal Justice System. Through the personal anecdote from the video uncovers many risk factors, such as trauma from residential schools and poverty. Risk factors will be later discussed and in more depth.  Overrepresentation has been thought to be t

The Cultural Practice of the Sweat Lodge The indigenous culture involves many traditional practices. Indigenous people have a holistic approach to their way of life, especially regarding their health. Their culture involves many traditional medicines, and a different approach to practicing medicine versus western culture. This article will address the cultural practice of sweat lodges. A sweat lodge involves using heat and water to create a warm steamy environment (Schiff & Pelech, 2007, p. 3). The sweating experience in indigenous culture is a purifying and cleansing experience (Schiff & Pelech, 2007, p. 4). Historically sweat lodges have been used in different cultures as well and have been used for similar reasons (Garrett et al., 2011, p. 2).  Sweat lodges restore an individual’s balance between their spirituality, emotional, mental and physical health (Schiff & Pelech, 2007, p. 2). Historically the sweat lodges, in indigenous culture, have been used as a sour

Background on the Residential School Attendee: Lorna Rope             Lorna Rope is a residential school survivor, she currently lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, but is originally from Carry the Kettle First Nations (Rope, n.d.). She attended the St. Paul residential school for a period of time in Lebret Saskatchewan, starting in 1962 (Rope, n.d.).   Both her parents attended residential school, and her father went to the same one Lorna Rope attended (Rope, n.d.).  During her stay at the residential school she experienced various forms of physical and mental abuse (Rope, n.d.). She became rebellious during her stay, and she also became captain of many school sport teams (Rope, n.d.). Sports were an outlet for Lorna Rope because it was a chance for her to leave the school, due to the fact that her parents were unable to visit her (Rope, n.d.).             The residential school eventually let Lorna Rope officially leave during her grade 10 year (Rope, n.d.).   She attempted to att