Navajo Peacemaking

CAV Paper Navajo Peace suck in Throughout Indian Country tribes have their own righteousness of naturecourts to citation legal matters. However, the Navajo earth has a court organization that stands isolated from an otherwise(prenominal) tribes. Howard L. brownish Esq. wrote, The Navajo demesnes babys dummy atom An Integrated Community-Based difference of opinion nigh(a)down fabrication which was published in the American Indian Law Review 1999-2000 issue and was reprinted in the May/July 2002 issue of fray Re solving daybook. As a former(prenominal) legal law clerk for the Supreme court of judge of the Navajo landed estate, brownish gained firsthand experience with the babys dummy variance within the Navajo Nations Judicial Branch.He details the business relationship, development and ceremonies associated with this announcement forum. Two other authors also cover the selfsame(prenominal) topic, agreeing with cooks intuitive feeling although from incom patible perspectives. This paper leave behind equalize brownnesss viewpoint to Jona F. Meyers condition, It is a Gift From the designer to prolong Us in unanimity pilot course (vs. Alternative) scrap Re reply on the Navajo Nation published in the outside(a) diary of open Administration and Jeanmarie Pintos cla mathematical function Peacemaking as ceremony the Mediation deterrent example of the Navajo Nation. published in The International ledger of Conflict Management. chocolate-browns clause opens with statistical information about the Navajo Nations reservation size and population, its bound as a sovereign nation, and clay of political science. The article provides a brief hi narrative and evolution of the Navajo Nations discriminative system, clearly explaining the difference between Navajo coarse law and contrasts it with the more adversarial federal or raise law. The Navajo Nation Tribal Council established the Navajo courts, which make up iodine of th e lead commencementes of tribal government.In 1982, after searching for more handed-down ways to solve disputes the babys dummy hail began. It is know referred to as the peacemaker Division within the judicial branch of government and uses Navajo Common law. 1 In Peacemaking as Ceremony The Mediation Model of the Navajo Nation, Pinto agrees with Browns explanation of the Navajo court and government system, that explains the difference between schoolmaster enmity Resolution (ODR) and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The Navajo legal full term for peacemaking s Original Dispute Resolution, because it is the customsal Navajo regularity for solving disputes while ADR is a term for unique mediation methods within the federal, state, and local anaesthetic court systems. 2 Jona Meyer s definition of the history of Navajo peacemaking also agrees with the other twain authors version of the history of the Navajo Nations judicial system, and the article It is a Gift From t he occasion to Keep Us in conformity Original (vs. Alternative) Dispute Resolution on the Navajo Nation includes a history King Henry Is use of compensation for crimes which is a comp angiotensin converting enzyment of the Navajo peacemaking dish up. 3 According to Brown, Navajo usual law is also known as traditional law which reflects the customs, usages and traditions of the Navajo People, formed by Navajo set in action, reinforcing the Nations sovereignty, preserving Navajo tradition, and preventing the state from interfering in Navajo judicial matters. 4 The article relates why the use of Navajo super C law is important as it employs traditional pagan values to resolve disputes which is virtu tout ensembleything familiar to the disputants, making them more inclined to go done the legal process to settle disputes.Pinto agrees with Brown, but points out that there be some younger Navajos who are not positive of returning to the old ways of resolve disputes and prefer t o use the more mainstream Navajo Court System. 5 Meyers article mentions the use of Navajo common law in the Navajo as did Brown and Pinto, but states peacemaking never fully ceased to excrete in the remote regions of the reservation. 6 Unlike Pinto, Meyer did not mention the lack of support for Navajo peacekeeping operation within the younger generation.Peacemaking or hozhooji naataanii comes from Navajo common law and tradition and includes a evaluator ceremony in which disputants and residential district members garner to talk things out with the assistance of a respected community leader or naataannii (peacemaker) to reach a consensual settlement. 7 Brown describes how a peacemaker is chosen, how tradition is followed by opening the session with a orison to create a harmonious atmosphere, and the protocol that if followed during the mediation leading to the final consensual solution.While talking things out family and community members pass on explain to the offender how they have violated tradition and failed to fulfill the expectation of their authority as a family or community member and how it has impacted them. Browns description of the peacemaking process is interchangeable to Pintos which is illustrated via a table comparing trinity models of dispute resolution. The table clearly shows the importance of Navajo tradition in peacemaking and how it is reflected in each step of the process via a healing ceremony and focussing on restoring harmony to the community. 8 Pinto also includes common chord pages detailing the seven steps and components of the peacemaking process. The describe format makes the process easy to represent and reinforces many points brought up by the other two authors. Meyer describes the peacemaking process in term similar to Brown and Pintos, but compares the Navajo process to other tribal resolution methods. utilize the Ojibwe example of cleansing the spirits of offenders and dupes of a crime, Meyer points out that the Navajo peacemaking process works to do away with the causes of discord rather than focus on the dispute itself. 9 After the period of give-and-take the peacemaker will often use a story to illustrate the actus reus and to find a consensual solution that is in accordance with traditional Navajo beliefs. Brown relates how the story of the Horned anuran and Lightning resolute a dispute over get to ownership. 10 Lightning felt that he owned all of the land and was upset when Horned Toad entered it and arranged him to leave. When Horned Toad refused to leave, Lightning threw a lightning bolt which landed very close to Horned Toad who left.The next day Horned Toad returned wearing fit and when Lightning hit him with a lightning bolt it was deflected by the armor. Horned Toad explained that the Creator was the same one that gave them the land and the armor and questioned why they were fighting over something that had been given to them. This story reminds disputants of th e importance of talking things out and hobby traditional ways. While Pinto agrees with Browns account of how stories are used as a part of the peacemaking process, the article does not mention any specific stories.However, Pinto states, with with(predicate) the telling of Sacred Navajo Narratives, and in relating recognition gained through personal experience, the peacemakers teaches basic Navajo principles and guides the participants from a negative frame of mind to one that is positive enough to promote difficulty solving. 11 Meyer also mentions the use of stories, but states that they are used to illustrate issues in the dispute. 12 wholly three authors agree that during the peacemaking solutions are achieved through discussion of the dispute and that the resolution reached is one that satisfies all parties.Meyers article is the lone(prenominal) one that mentions the term restorative justice and it is in reference to the 1881 Brule Sioux Crow bounder case, in which the of fender compensated the dupes family. Crow Dog polish off Chief Spotted Tail and was ordered by the tribe to make reparations to the victims family, a sanction that was ordinarily imposed in Sioux homicides. 13 Pintos abbreviation of the peacemaking process includes the nalyeeh, a process resulting in restitution, restoration, and making a person totally for an injury. 14 The person who caused the injury or is the trusty party for the dispute is required to make sure that restitution is given to the victim or victims family, which will help make the community satisfying again. Brown does not mention the term restorative justice, but does explain that the solution must be something agreed upon and all right for all parties involved in the dispute. The promise by consensus implies that community harmony is restored.The Navajo Nations Peacemaking Division has been successful and other tribes in the United States and Canada have similar successes. Meyers article uses an example taken from Hollow Water, Manitoba where tribal leaders allowed internal abusers to plead guilty and complete a 13 step two course program that helped them address the issues they struggle with delinquent to their having been victimized during their childhood. After completion of the program the former abuser foes through a cleansing ceremony to mark a new beginning for all involved.During the ceremony, the former abuser washed his victims feet, symbolically allowing her to re-enter womanhood, then throws a mask he has worn passim the ceremony into the fire, symbolically destroying his identity as an abuser. 15 The tribe has been incredibly successful with slight than 5% of the abusers committing a sexual hatred again, compared to much higher recidivism rates in mainstream courts. Pintos article agrees with Meyer that the Navajo peacekeeping system is successful and even goes as far-off to mention it serving as a model or Western mediation to improve the mediation methods cur rently being used. 16 Browns article suggest that the Navajo Peacemaking system is successful and that success is reflected in the increased number of cases in the peacekeeping mission Division. 17 Three authors wrote about Navajo peacekeeping from different perspectives, bringing up various points, but all agreed that it is successful. With the success of the Navajo Peacemaking Division of the Navajo Nation court system, it is clear that this long-standing tradition will continue to bring acantha restore harmony to communities torn apart by disputes.Works Cited Brown, Howard L. Nations Peacemaker Division An Integrated, Community-Based Dispute Resolution Forum, Dispute Resolution journal 57 (May 2002) 42- 48. Meyer, Jona. It is a Gift From the Creator to Keep Us in Harmony Original (vs. Alternative) Dispute Resolution on the Navajo Nation International Journal of worldly concern Administration 25 (2002) 1379 1401. Pinto, Jeanmarie. Peacemaking as Ceremony The Mediation Model of the Navajo Nation, The International Journal of Conflict Management 11 (2000) 267-286. 1 Howard L. Brown, Nations Peacemaker Division An Integrated, Community-Based Dispute Resolution Forum, Dispute Resolution Journal 57 (May 2002), 44. 2 Jeanmarie Pinto, Peacemaking as Ceremony The Mediation Model of the Navajo Nation, The International Journal of Conflict Management 11 (2000), 269. 3 Meyer, Jona It is a Gift From the Creator to Keep Us in Harmony Original (vs. Alternative) Dispute Resolution on the Navajo Nation International Journal of Public Administration 25 (2002) 1380. 4 Brown, Nations Peacemaker Division, 45. 5 Pinto, Peacemaking as Ceremony, 270. 6 Meyer, It is a Gift From the Creator, 1387. 7 Brown, Nations Peacemaker Division, 45. 8 Pinto, Peacemaking as Ceremony, 275. 9 Meyer, It is a Gift From the Creator, 1388. 10 Brown, Nations Peacemaker Division, 47. 11 Pinto, Peacemaking as Ceremony, 278. 12 Meyer, It is a Gift From the Creator, 1388. 13 Ibid, 1384. 14 Pinto, Peacemaking as Ceremony, 282. 15 Meyer, It is a Gift From the Creator, 1383. 16 Pinto, Peacemaking as Ceremony, 283. 17 Brown, Nations Peacemaker Division, 47.