the affair. Since Aboriginal communities worked on the basis of consensus, unanimity was required before any sentence could be passed. When unanimity could not be achieve after discussions that might have lasted days, the matter was set aside for later deliberation. (Rudin & Russel,1993,41)Guilt and innocence was not an issue for Aboriginal culture. The sanctions a person might face as a consequence of their actions were generally designed not to punish, but to prevent recurrence of community disruption. Forgiveness was an essential element. The purpose of punishment was to show the offender that they had disrupted the relationship of interconnectedness among members of the community. Because punishment served primarily as an educative function, resort was rarely made to physical punishment. Generally , the sanctions used to punish a person for inappropriateness were ridicule or ostracism. The severest penalty that could be imposed was banishment. Expulsion from the community unit. Such a penalty would be considered appropriate not because of the severity of the offence but rather because a persons actions continuously interfered with the tribes functioning. Thus, banishment could be ordered if an individual persistency engaged in a series of minor offences, it was not the nature of the action which merited community attention, rather the consequences of the action.(Rudin & Russel,1993,41) What the foregoing had shown is that the emphasis in Aboriginal criminal justice system was not to determine the guilt or innocence of a person for the purpose of then administering a set penalty, but rather to ensure the continued smooth running of an interdependent, collective unit. Given the philosophical world view of Aboriginal people, the idea of depriving a person of their liberty in response to their having committed a particular act would have been strange and dysfunctional in its self.(Rudin & Russel,1993,41)In contrast the Canadian justi...
