A Feather, Not A Gavel

Aboriginals and Canada's justice system at conflict: it's a reality which occupies newspaper headlines, and fills Canada's court system and prisons with First Nations peoples. And according to Judge A. C. Hamilton, it is something that has to change.

And he should know: Hamilton has been deeply involved with the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry Commission of Manitoba, worked as a consultant to the federal minister of Indian Affairs and is a founding member of the Indian and Métis Friendship Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. He is also the author of A Feather, Not A Gavel, a book that outlines several key areas where Aboriginal people and Canada's judicial system come into conflict, offering recommendations for change where two cultures collide.

"It indicates what I believe is the better way to approach legal maters with Aboriginal people, and that is in a traditional, respectful way that is represented by the feather. I use a gavel to represent the process of the regular court system," says Judge Hamilton from his home in Winnipeg.

Based on Hamilton's experiences with Native people through his career as a lawyer and judge, the book original began as a memoir for his family. "As I wrote, I started to recognize how much of a part Aboriginal matters have played in my life" he says, adding that he worked on the book for three and a half years.

According to Hamilton, bridging the gap between Aboriginal culture and Canada's justice system will involve giving Aboriginal people control over a justice system of their own, one that is based upon their values. "The understanding of the justice system among Aboriginal people, particularly in the North and remote communities, is very uncertain," he explains.

"They don't understand the system they are getting involved with. They don't understand the court process when it is taking place and it is totally unsuitable to the methods the Aboriginal people have traditionally used to control unacceptable conduct. I am suggesting allowing the Aboriginal communities to have their own system that will be run in more traditional ways. It will deal with the healing of the offender and the protection and healing as well of the victims."

When Hamilton was a Commissioner with the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, he took part in the writing of a report for the Government of Manitoba in 1991. During that time he visited many Aboriginal communities in Canada and beyond and explored their culture and tribal court systems, especially in the United States, where these systems have been functioning successfully since the 1960's. "I would pick up many of the same issues [from the report] and try as a non-Aboriginal person to explain them to other non-Aboriginal people. In the last half of the book I throw out a number of suggestions for Aboriginal people to consider as they are rebuilding their societies, as they are getting new treaties or as they are entering into self-government agreements," he says.

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