Re-Imagining "Serving Time" in Indigenous Communities

Section 81 of the federal Corrections and Conditional Release Act allows Indigenous communities to oversee the care and custody of Indigenous prisoners. While section 81 does not stipulate how Indigenous communities must engage with prisoners under their custody and care, the provision has commonly taken the form of healing centres, frequently known as healing lodges. This legislation has the potential to afford Indigenous communities, in all of their forms, the flexibility to configure their own section 81 agreements that comport with their unique capacities and needs. Despite the potential of section 81, there are few section 81 programs available to federally imprisoned Indigenous women. This article presents findings from two community engagement sessions with Indigenous women and Indigenous community leaders from various communities in Manitoba on federally imprisoned Indigenous women serving time in their communities. The article outlines the knowledge and insights gained from the communities through grassroots engagement sessions and demonstrates the necessity of engaging Indigenous expertise and enhanced localized understanding of the barriers, possibilities, and limitations of section 81.