Reconciliation and Indigenous Justice: A Search for Ways Forward by David Milward (review)

Reviewed by: Reconciliation and Indigenous Justice: A Search for Ways Forward by David Milward Gillian Calder (bio) Reconciliation and Indigenous Justice: A Search for Ways Forward by David Milward Fernwood Publishing, 2022 THIS IS AN IMPORTANT BOOK, not just in the story it tells but also in the way it tells that story. It is an invaluable resource for all those living with or learning about the complicated dimensions of reconciliation, Indigenous justice, prison abolition, intersocietal legal orders, ethics and morality, restorative programming, spirituality, principles of sentencing, and the importance of a search for ways forward. It takes on many of the most difficult issues that we face as a shared society, and it does so with grace, careful research, and a sense of hope. The book's power rests in the clear connection it draws between the experience of residential schools and the grave problem of overincarceration of Indigenous Peoples in Canada today. It troubles the ways that standard punitive policies of the Canadian state continue to be applied to Indigenous peoples living with the social legacies and enduring harms of residential schools; and then it offers concrete means to repair relationships, to further harmony in the context of conflict, to rethink approaches to punishment, and to reimagine accountability, responsibility and safety. Part of what enables David Milward to accomplish his aims is the decision he makes to approach the issues and questions of reconciliation as a "Word Warrior." Drawn from the work of Anishinaabe political scientist Dale Turner,1 Word Warriors are academically trained Indigenous philosophers who act as bridges and advocates for Indigenous people within a democratic state. They are people with the capacity to move between languages, across dichotomies, and within ways of thinking about the world. As Inuvialuit legal scholar Gordon Christie has written, Word Warriors must be able to take up, deconstruct, and continue to resist colonialism—but they are also skilled in their ability to engage the legal and political discourses of the state.2 Milward responds to those who see the work of change as only possible through the realm of direct action by offering that it is as a Word Warrior that he is likely to be the most persuasive within corridors of power; to effect change in the realm of criminal justice policy is to align—he argues—Canadian self-interest with Indigenous aspirations. [End Page 140] Embracing words as effective tools of social justice, Milward shows how residential schools, through their legacies of abuse, planted the seeds of intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities. He then painstakingly follows each sprout through case law where he teases out judicial recognition of residential school factors that have played a role in the accused's conflict with the justice system and ultimately in overincarceration. And while it is painful, he moves through questions of substance use, mental health, racism, cultural losses, deficient parenting, intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, poverty, family policing, and the intersections that coexist. He then offers law as remedy: as a scythe in a garden full of weeds, a sprinkler for parched soil, and fertilizer for ideas that need more nurturing to break the surface. Cognizant that hope can be fleeting, Milward concludes by drawing a narrative of reconciliation, resurgence, and revitalization into the text. He shows what might grow from investment in community, from critical programming both inside and outside of prison, and from a principled reallocation of resources. He uses his Word Warrior toolkit to bridge colonial laws to Indigenous legal orders: highlighting questions of safety, responsibility, family relations, and care. And ultimately, with a reminder that words are sometimes the most powerful tools available, he leaves his readers with some reasoned optimism and a way forward. Gillian Calder GILLIAN CALDER is professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria. Notes 1. Dale Turner, This Is Not a Peace Pipe: Towards a Critical Indigenous Philosophy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006). 2. Gordon Christie, "Response to This Is Not a Peace Pipe: Towards a Critical Indigenous Philosophy by Dale Turner," APA Newsletter 10, no. 2 (2011). Copyright © 2024 Regents of the University of Minnesota

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