Investigating Indigeneity within Incarceration: Healing Lodges in the Canadian Media

My research examines the media portrayals of Indigenous healing lodges within Canada, through a critical discourse analysis of relevant Canadian news media sources, spanning from 2009 to 2019. I utilize both intersectionality and settler colonialism as my theoretical approaches for this research to contextualize media discourses to the longstanding history of colonialism in Canadian society, as well as intersections of identity. I also analyze research questions relevant to settler versus Indigenous-led media, as well as the constructions of healing lodges as a form of punishment and the ways in which Indigenous offenders were depicted. In addition, I explore how narratives about healing lodges further solidified claims regarding Indigenous sovereignty. I conclude with a multi-faceted approach moving forward through support for the implementation of more Indigenous-led healing lodges, as well as cultural resurgence, as advocated by a number of prominent Indigenous scholars in the field.