Over-Incarceration of Indigenous People and Perpetuated Health Determinants: The Hidden Agenda of Genocide.

The Health Determinants of Indigenous peoples are the direct cause of the historical implementation of settler colonial policies, and forced, legislated segregation, marginalization and labor; created to displace, assimilate, and cause extinction. Such policies and control tactics were carried out through the use of the Indian Act (1876), Indian Residential Schools (IRS), the Sixties Scoop, and the creation of the reserves and Pass Systems. These settler colonial policies continue to have violent, intergenerational effects that impact Indigenous peoples' holistic health (micro), communities' health (mezzo), and traditional structures (macro). Prisons have been described as a re-creation of residential schools, which instill underlying Indian Act policies and parallels of the intensive assimilation processes. The mass incarceration of Indigenous peoples in Canada deserves exploration and critical analysis as it continues to violently affect the healing and restoration of individuals, families, and communities. In this article, we will review historical policy that has resulted in current health determinants, which in turn has caused Indigenous people to become targeted for over-incarceration. We will further review racist policy, including the Custody Rating Scale, and the Mandatory Minimum Penalties (MMP), including the Safe Streets and Communities Act (Bill C-10), which define and decide the charges and convictions that Indigenous people are given. We will then conclude with recommendations for Indigenous-led, culturally safe, community-driven policy and programs as they pertain to the incarceration of Indigenous peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]