Gladue through wahkotowin: social history through cree kinship lens in corrections and parole
Date
2015-02-26
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
ABSTRACT
This thesis explores the R. v. Gladue (1999) decision and whether it is applicable to
federal corrections and parole release. I outline a Cree relational approach—wahkotowin—that
can be employed as a Gladue method of analysis to help us understand Cree history through a kinship relational lens. In Chapter 1, I share an overview of the teachings of wahkotowin, as taught by knowledge keeper and respected author Maria Campbell. With the help of her circle teachings diagrams, I outline our relationships and obligations to one another. I also outline the shattering of wahkotowin through imposed colonial and present-day policies, programs, and
legislation, and the resulting inherited intergenerational trauma. Chapter 2 locates my personal story, exploring family and community history, and its connection with First Nations and Métis history on the prairies. Chapter 3 reviews the Supreme Court of Canada’s R. v. Gladue and R. v.
Ipeelee (2012) decisions, the duty to properly consider the unique social history of Aboriginal
peoples, and the applicability of Gladue to section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional
Release Act. Chapter 4 outlines the qualitative data, including interviews with legal experts
working with Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto and the Gladue Court. The data explore best practices of interviewing, researching, and report writing necessary for obtaining Gladue evidence. In Chapter 5, I propose a Gladue-through-wahkotowin approach that explores how
Gladue’s duty to consider social history evidence can be expanded to all phases of the criminal justice system, from sentencing to parole release, and can include a Cree relationship-based way
of interviewing an offender, carrying out in-depth family and community interviews, attaining oral and documentary historical research, and applying a broad Indigenous approach to interviewing and the writing of Gladue Reports.
Description
Keywords
Gladue, Ipeelee, Gladue Report, social history, Aboriginal peoples, wahkotowin, Gladue Court, Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, section 84, CCRA, Gladue-through-wahkotowin, kinship, Indigenous, Cree, corrections, parole
Citation
Degree
Master of Laws (LL.M.)
Department
Law
Program
Law