UCLA

This research looks at the criminality of American Indians and Alaskan Natives under policies and institutions formed with under settler colonial structures. Since the signing of treaties, American Indians have been displaced and criminalized in order to control and contain. Beginning with the legal construction of American Indian Criminality, this thesis analyzes how criminalization has been used as a tool to continue this displacement. Criminalizing the American Indian in the public eye has been promoted through journalism and mass media that constructs the American Indian and Alaskan Native through stereotypical representations.

Once incarcerated American Indians and Alaskan Natives fail to receive culturally relevant and adequate access to resources due to the reliance on recidivism. In order to combat this, interviewees addressed the importance of having community support and/or forming community and relationships.