The past, present and future was the main discussion at an Aboriginal Justice Conference in Saskatoon this week.
The conference entitled Traditional Family and Community Relationships featured several speakers and presentations.
The three-day gathering began on Tuesday evening where First Nations elders shared their stories of justice based on traditional and historical knowledge.
The week-long conference then grew from there examining along the theme “where we were, where we are now and where we are going.”
“We are focusing on what we did a long time ago, our traditional practices,” explains Restorative Justice Director for the File Hills Fort Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, Bev Poitras. “What are we doing now because we have a blend of the contemporary and the traditional and in the future what is our new First Nations system going to look like.”
Terri-Ann Lepowicks, Director of Justice for the Yorkton Tribal Council says these themes were discovered through personal stories in the various speeches and presentations.
“The participants were able to listen to these stories and think this is real, these are real people and this is how I can change,” says Lepowicks.
Both Lepowicks and Poitras say moving forward from the conference, it’s important to partner traditional First Nation ideas of justice with the current legal system.
“We have participants from all over Saskatchewan and we hope they go back and make changes or strive for changes in their community,” says Lepowicks.
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nation Chief Bobby Cameron also had a chance to speak with the participants on Friday morning. He says as long as we keep sharing these positive messages to our youth we are moving in the right direction.
Over 200 people attended the conference.