Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and ...

Restorative PracticesE FORUMinto our territory, our laws apply to you,and vice versa. Just like if somebody fromthe U.S. went to France.”Because of the Two-Row Wampum, theJustice Department of Canada recognizesrights of Native people to create theirown laws, said Thompson. The JusticeDepartment of Canada developed theAboriginal Justice Department, whichprovided $72 million to help the FirstNations create their own justice systems.“Now a lot of people are developingtheir own justice programs and thegovernment is actually saving money.The federal penitentiaries were crowdedwith Native people. Ten years ago it cost$46,000 a year to keep one inmate injail. But when we rehabilitated them itcost nothing, so they gave us money.” Thesame premise applies to probation, saidThompson. “They said, Who would bebetter to supervise these people than thepeople themselves? That’s where we gotthe money to operate our own probation,parole and police departments.”“The Indian Act was forced upon us in1898 in Canada, and it had all these rulesand policies on how to conduct yourself.But we don’t force things on people. Ourcustom is to ask the people what theywant to do—to come to a communitycollective agreement.” Accordingly, in1991, the Akwesasne Justice Departmentperformed an assessment for the community,asking justice-related questions:“Who should be addressing crimes? Doyou think that the outside courts shouldbe doing this or should we be doing itinternally?” The results of the surveywere used by the department to developan administration to address problemsthemselves, including their own laws,their own mechanism to resolve conflicts,and their own enforcement andrehabilitative processes.In 1994, the department organizedthe Council of Neh-Kanikonriio. Itwas decided that whenever there was anMay 26 2004issue, a conflict or a dispute it should goto this council, “the ones who sit withthe people and come up with solutionsof how to make things right and restorethe balance and harmony within the community,”said Thompson. About 30 menand women sit on the council—respectablecitizens of the community—elders,middle-aged people and a few young“The Indian Act was forcedupon us in 1898 in Canada.But we don’t force things onpeople. Our custom is to askthe people what they want todo—to come to a communitycollective agreement.”—Louise Thompsonpeople. A training seminar teachescouncil members the elements necessaryto conduct a hearing.A panel of three or four councilmembers reviews each case. The panel,the victim and offender involved in theincident, and the resource staff—drugand alcohol counselors, child and familyservice workers or mental health workers,depending on the circumstances—meetfor a hearing and come up with an agreement.The council asks people who cometo them who else they would like to attendthe hearing. “Sometimes people ask to attend,and we ask the victims’ and offenders’permission,” said Thompson. Thissystem has been in use since 1995, aidedby United States federal and Ontarioprovincial government funding.The first thing offenders must do in ahearing is “give respect to Mother Earth,”said Thompson. Often people involvedin criminal activity have totally neglectedthat responsibility, she said. “We bringthese people back down to reality andback down to earth, make them realizewww.restorativepractices.orgthat life is so much more meaningful thanhaving money to buy cars and clothes.You have to believe that there’s somebodyspiritual over you.”The next step in a hearing is to acknowledgewhy the person has beenbrought before the panel, in a respectfulway, welcoming that person to theoccasion. Then everyone tells the circumstancesof what happened, and eachperson is asked to recommend the bestway to restore the balance and harmonyin the situation. A facilitator—a paidjustice-program staff member who coordinatesthe hearing and organizes thecircle—takes notes; panel members preparethe document of an agreement andeverybody signs it.The process used in the council isderived from traditional methods, saidThompson. “Back in the 1950s, we hadone person sitting there as justice of thepeace, and she still brought in the practicesof the culture, but the manner wasstill very mirrored to the European. Itwasn’t until the 1990s when we decidedthat we didn’t have to practice what theypractice, because we are our own people.That’s the time we put our foot downand said, ‘No, we are going to adopt ourtraditional ways—getting everyone together.’”Continued Thompson, “I’mof the Wolf Clan, and if I did somethingthat would violate the principle of theGreat Law [the Kaianerekowa], my clanwould come to me and tell me to get backon the right path. It’s those principlesthat we modified to use within the Neh-Kanikonriio Council.”Thompson talked about facilitatinga hearing for “a hard-core personin leather jeans and jacket, didn’t giverespect for anybody, had a lengthy record.He was advised by his lawyer togive this a try. [His charge was] assaultwith a weapon. We thought, How are weever going to get through to this guy? Webrought him in, treated him with respect,© 2004 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESTORATIVE PRACTICES 23⁄4