‘Find some sort of peace and harmony’: New peacemaking centre opens on Blood Tribe

A new facility on the Blood Tribe will house the Kainai Peacemaking Program—a judicial and restorative justice system in the community.

The new Chief Crop Eared Wolf Peacemaking Centre is officially open on the Blood Tribe.

The nearly 24,000-square-foot facility, located in Stand Off, Alta., is the new home to the Kainai Peacemaking Program and a future Alberta Justice circuit courtroom.

“We use our traditional knowledge keepers to interview and find some sort of peace and harmony,” said Coun. Kirby Many Fingers with the Blood Tribe.

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“Very often, the case with the judicial system is there’s a winner and a loser, and justice is not really dispensed. So, in this case, the whole ideal is to restore harmony in the community.”

The peacemaking program began in 2009 with a commitment in fostering a judicial and restorative justice system on the Blood Tribe.

“They will have the opportunity to think about some of the – I hate to say – some of the crimes they commit, some of the minor offences, and that they can rehabilitate themselves, they can turn their lives around,” said Coun. Dorothy First Rider with the Blood Tribe.

The new centre will have a focus on assisting Indigenous people, according to First Rider.

Between 2022 and 2023, 33 per cent of admissions to federal custody were Indigenous adults.

Indigenous women accounted for 33 per cent of female admissions, while 32 per cent were Indigenous men.

During that same time, Indigenous adults made up 30 per cent of admissions to provincial correctional services despite accounting for only four per cent of the adult population in Canada.

The peacemaking centre is hoping to reduce incarceration and recidivism rates.

“When clients do come in, they’ll be in a more relaxed setting, a more inviting setting and that will go towards resolving a lot of issues in a non-confrontational way,” said First Rider.

The new space was funded by the Blood Tribe through its land settlement with the federal government, along with a 10 per cent contribution from FNDF.

“We’ve had great advancements in our administration of justice projects,” explained Many Fingers.

“It started off with the Blood Tribe Police Service in 1976 – we were the first fully accredited police force in Canada – the next major milestone was in the early 1990s when we opened up the Kainai correctional facility and started offering correctional programs, so this was the logical next step.”

The peacemaking program is currently in the process of expanding its mandate to include civil and family matters.

“This has all been decades in the making and everything is coming together at the same time, so we’re very excited about it,” Many Fingers added.

Work is ongoing between the Blood Tribe and provincial government to lease the courtroom within the new facility to Alberta Justice.