In the Aftermath of Rampage Shootings: Is Healing Possible? Hard Lessons from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and Other Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

This study produces insights, ideas and findings which link mass shootings and communal responses in the United States and on Indian reservations. The study compares and contrasts the aftermath of these tragedies in non-indigenous communities with the responses when the tragedies have occurred in certain American Indian communities. It looks to the roots of the Native American approach in international indigenous historical evidence. The author describes an institutional weakness in the Anglo-European judicial model in how it responds to the aftermath of heinous crimes. He explores adaptation of certain practices from indigenous peoples as a method of contributing to healing, closure and reconciliation following heinous criminal behavior. He further explores the possibility of incorporating face-to-face, interpersonal interaction between mass shooting victims, their families, and offenders and their families.