Source: (2005) In Wanda D. McCaslin, ed., Justice as Healing: Indigenous Ways. Writings on Community Peacemaking and Restorative Justice from the Native Law Centre. St. Paul, MN: Living Justice Press. Pp. 54-55.
I guess why I feel it is vital to tell this story–and why it is vital for the restorative justice movement to hear it–comes from my own perception of how we as Native People work at decolonization. That process involves how we must find that safe and appropriate way of viewing our own personal life’s journey and that of our Peoples and how they fit into the history of colonization. We must see how our current existence is influenced by the overall dastardly plans of colonization, thereby exposing the lies that tell us that we are predisposed to the whole gamut of unhealthy lifestyles and are inferior simply because we are Native. We must begin to look at the colonizing process through the lens of our cultural teachings and values, which also hold keys to our healing journey. (excerpt)
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