APTN National News
A group of legal and indigenous experts in Winnipeg are proposing a new kind of justice system for Aboriginal People.
It’s a special court that would take into account the troubled history of First Nations people in Canada.
APTN’s Shaneen Robinson has more.
While this is full of good intentions, Court systems and Indigenous cultures are oxymorons. Courts are based on European models of dispute resolution that do not fit within Aboriginal cultures and no court system can pretend they are “restorative” as they have all in common to first try to determine guilt or innocence and, in a second phase to punish the guilty. Indigenous dispute resolution systems do not need to copy the mainstream court system but should stand alone and reflect the culture of Indigenous peoples. Many good people in the Cdn Court system think they are doing the right thing by creating “Aboriginal Courts” but they are doing a disservice to Indigenous peoples by trying to let them believe they can get justice in this type of system. It didn’t work (i.e. sentencing circles – terrible oxymoron) and will never work – it will either be assimilation and acculturation or the creation of genuine conflict resolution processes based on Indigenous cultures.
Oh please!!!