First Nations peoples and the law

To understand the overrepresentation of First Nations peoples in the criminal justice system, we need to understand the historical context, together with unresolved contemporary issues of sovereignty, self-determination, and the need for truth-telling. In this article, we provide an overview of the current situation, we discuss the historical and contemporary contexts which contribute to the risk of young First Nations peoples coming into contact with the justice system, and we make recommendations for prevention and healing, from a First Nations perspective. Overall, we argue that offending behaviours lie at the end of a continuum of risk. This continuum includes exposure to intergenerational and current trauma within the historical context of genocide, and the ongoing issues of generational poverty, social disadvantage, and discrimination.