CRAFT, Creating Restitution and Following Tradition

The Red Lake Tribal Courts will implement the Creating Restitution and Following Tradition (CRAFT) Workshop to serve 625 youth between the ages of 12 to 17 over a five year period. The CRAFT Workshop will be an after school program of diversion and restitution. The goal of the CRAFT Workshop is to provide an alternative for sentencing juveniles, and will include restitution activities. Court ordered and referred juveniles attend therapeutic sessions where they learn to craft one or more items traditional to Ojibwe culture, such as birch bark items, porcupine quill work, beadwork, etc. Each juvenile creates a gift of restitution for whomever his/her crime has injured. The juvenile also learns about Ojibwe traditions and life such as: ceremonial occurrences, seasonal activities, history. An important requirement is the juveniles also learn about the victim of their offenses in such a way that they can realize they have hurt another human being, hurt their community. Their gift of restitution, presented and accepted with ceremony and celebration, grants them an honorable path back into their community. Their gained self knowledge is a strong protective factor against recidivism. The project will strengthen the tribal juvenile justice system by working to establish C.R.A.F.T. as a model program with OJJDP and the National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices. CA/NCF