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Graduate Theses & Dissertations

: Elders And Indigenous Healing in The Correctional Service Of Canada; In our communities, we are continually challenged to reflect on effective responses to the people and events that put us at risk. This study is an examination of two distinctly different world-view responses: the colonial, dominant culture and the Indigenous world-view. The retributive understanding of the dominant culture applies assumptions about the nature of the world that are vested in colonial, paternal, and punitive processes aimed to extract compliance as a means of deterrence. Conversely, the consensual precepts of Indigenous world-view are rooted in community-based practices that require a process of collaboration and cooperation to create integrated relationships that glean responsibility. This study brings light to bear on the ongoing relational dissonance that exists between the following: the disproportionate representation of men and women of Aboriginal descent held under federal warrant in Canada; the legislated mandate contained within the Canadian Corrections and Conditional Release Act that places successful community reintegration as a primary objective for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC); and the role, place, and function of Elders who work in CSC reception centres, healing programs, and Pathways Initiatives. This study explores the variables, assumptions, and differing world-views that contribute to the disproportionate representation of incarcerated adults of Aboriginal descent and the challenges that impede successful community reintegration. In order to effectively examine and make sense of the relational dissonance that exists between correctional theory and institutional practice, the research is driven by a central question: What is the role, place, and function of Elders in the delivery of Indigenous healing programs within Canadian federal prisons? The outcome of this work reveals practices of decolonizing justice and healing that can move assumptions and challenge paternal understanding. It is an approach that has the capacity to peel away relational dissonance, thus allowing space for public policy that sustains consensual understandings of community. Key Words: Indigenous, settler colonial, dominant culture, retributive justice, restorative justice, indigenous justice, Elder, healing, healing program, disproportionate representation, successful community reintegration, relational dissonance. Author Keywords: Elder, healing program, indigenous justice, relational dissonance, retributive justice, successful community reintegration

: Maintaining Balance in Times of Change; Abstract Maintaining Balance in Times of Change: An Investigation into the Contemporary Self-Regulatory Dynamics that Operate in and around First Nations Traditional Healing Systems The evolution of health regulation processes in Canada has focused on the development of standards of practice premised upon the principle of `do no harm' and the approval of these by government regulatory agencies. This thesis examines three emerging communities of practice that bring traditional indigenous knowledge and indigenous healers forward into health care and their approaches to regulation. The results indicate that surrounding contexts of meaning influence understandings about self-regulation and that these understandings are dynamic because contemporary practices of First Nations traditional healing can occur in different contexts. The study cautions that unless we remain close to these `healer centred' contexts, there is no guarantee that the self-regulatory value systems stemming from modern Western medical communities of practice will not be applied by default or that the emerging `integrative' models of self-regulation developed between governments and First Nations will continue to reflect First Nations' understanding of self-regulation. Author Keywords: health and wellness, indigenous, self-determination, self-regulation, traditional healing

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