Abstract

Indigenous women are the fastest growing offender population in Canada. The largest increase in Indigenous women’s admissions to provincial/territorial custody between 2007 and 2018 occurred in Quebec, with a 219% increase (Statistics Canada, 2019). These statistics, coupled with a lack of localized (e.g., province-specific) knowledge regarding circumstances of Indigenous women, highlight an urgent need for identification and understanding of services needed to support Indigenous women in prison.

The purpose of this study was to explore Indigenous women’s perspectives on their participation in culturally specific and mainstream programs in a Quebec provincial women’s prison: Établissement de détention Leclerc de Laval. The study’s approach blended Indigenous and Western approaches to data collection and employed a relational ethics process for collaboratively building the study with women who participated. As a part of the study researchers and Indigenous women participated in three-day medicine bag workshops facilitated by Indigenous Elders and healers. Arts-based methods including storytelling, creation of medicine bags, sharing circles, and Sketchnotes (arts-based note taking; Rhodes, 2013) were used to collect data during workshops. The women also took part in optional interviews following workshops to share individualized insights regarding the impacts of the workshop and other correctional programs on their lives.

This thesis presents findings from five workshops and 31 interviews regarding the role of culturally specific and mainstream prison programs in supporting Indigenous women’s healing from the women’s perspectives. It further presents assets and limitations of available programs from the women’s perspectives. Program and policy implications of the findings are also presented.