Indigenous Approaches to Justice

Abstract

This chapter draws from Indigenous scholars and authors to identify general Indigenous perspectives on justice. The chapter begins by discussing Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies which are concerned with harmonious relations with human and non-human natures. It then examines the function of rights as tools towards realising justice by discussing legal and political literatures regarding the struggle and respect for specifically Indigenous rights to recognition and self-determination. In highlighting a range of perspectives on justice, the chapter suggests that Indigenous approaches to justice critically challenge the western dominance of justice theorising, by expanding alternative ways of understanding what just human/non-human relations can look like.