ABSTRACT
Indigenous hyperincarceration continues in settler-colonial states, bearing a pressing and seemingly entrenched human rights issue. In Australia, nearly 80% of Indigenous men receive a court order by their 24th birthday; 18.5% are imprisoned (31.7% and 1.5% for non-Indigenous men). We demonstrate how invader masculinities and settler-colonial perceptions of Indigenous masculinities criminalise Indigenous peoples. However, we argue that supporting Indigenous masculinities grounded in Indigenous perspectives is one way to decolonise criminology and inform decarceration processes. We present the chapter in three parts; first we detail how – since first contact – Indigenous peoples have been subjected to a separate system of extensive and pervasive social control. Institutional control inside and outside of prison is inseparable, forming a carceral archipelago. In part two, we demonstrate how this carceral archipelago reinforces ideals of hegemonic masculinity. Hierarchal power dynamics are gendered and raced, where Indigenous men and women are considered lesser status. In part three, we detail the counter narrative of resistance to settler-colonial stereotypes of Indigenous masculinities. Here, the predominant view eradicates prisons from Indigenous identities and masculinities, and instead empower Indigenous men within themselves, their families, and their communities. Overall, reinforcing the positive roles of Indigenous men and masculinities can disrupt the criminalisation of Indigenous peoples.
