ve taken away conflicts as a builder of communities, weve taken away, your conflict resolution skills....as a result, more people are locked up victims are not healed, offenders go on to re-offend, and a frustrated public continue to call for tougher punishment...The formal criminal justice system should serve as a system of last resort when communities cannot resolve conflict.(The First Perspective, December,1997,23)An example where the Sentencing Circle has been effective in making a change was in the Yukon. Harold Gatensby, a 46 year old repeat offender, and former alcoholic was granted a Sentencing Circle. As a teenager, his alcoholism drove him to repeat jail terms for assault. By the time he was 15, he was sent to adult court and spent time in a jail in northern Alberta. When he was released, he had learned to forge cheques, hot wire cars and pick locks. It was only with the help of elders in healing circles that he began a spiritual journey to work out for himself the meaning of honesty, trust and respect for others. Gatensby now travels across North America with Judge Barry Stuart training communities to use sentencing circles. Gatensby states that ironically the early Yukon circles were more successful among repeat offenders that first time offenders.(The First Perspective, December,1997,23)However, there is a significant difference between Aboriginal justice projects operating within the current justice system and the same projects operating within an Aboriginal justice system. Currently, these projects exist at the outer edges of the system. Since they exist at the margins, they are always in danger of being scaled back or abandoned altogether as a result of shifts in the wind. In an Aboriginal justice system, these same projects would have pride of place; far from being at theedges, they would be firmly front and center. In this position, they would not only have the opportunity to grow and thrive, but they would also be imp...
