Métis Mediation: Learning from the Past to Address the Present

• In Event: Legacies of the Past, Lessons for the Present

Abstract

Indigenous peoples are disproportionately represented in the Canadian prison system compared to any other group in the country. Despite numerous reports, commissions of inquiry, and legal changes, rates of criminalized Indigenous peoples have continued to grow at alarming rates. The prevailing justice approaches in Canada have predominantly focused on arrest, conviction, and sanctions, which are aimed more at control, assimilation, and, ultimately, the erasure of Indigenous peoples. In this presentation, we examine approaches to justice employed by Métis-Anishinaabe peoples during the 18th and 19th centuries. Specifically, we provide a microhistory that explores justice responses by Métis-Anishinaabe peoples during the fur trade era, aiming to draw lessons from the past to inform the present. This microhistory is based on various primary sources, including memoirs, correspondence among Métis peoples, official fur-trade records, and historical newspaper accounts. We contend that Métis justice practices offer valuable insights, including strategic alliances, and principles of empathy, integrity, and leadership. We conclude by suggesting that notions of Métis mediation used in the past, can play a role to address overrepresentation in the present.

Authors

• Lisa Monchalin, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

• Charles Reasons, Central Washington University