Indigenous Justice
Indigenous peoples have been using their own processes to enact justice and healing for millennia. On Turtle Island (North America), Talking Circles were developed as one form of restorative justice, and similar forms of indigenous justice are in use around the world. In recent decades, the Circle process has been shared with non-indigenous groups for the purposes of reducing the harms of the prison-industrial complex within First Nations families and communities.
Navajo Nation Peacemaking by ISBN: 9780816524716Publication Date: 2005Navajo peacemaking is one of the most renowned restorative justice programs in the world. Neither mediation nor alternative dispute resolution, it has been called a "horizontal system of justice" because all participants are treated as equals with the purpose of preserving ongoing relationships and restoring harmony among involved parties.
Returning to the Teachings by ISBN: 9780143055594Publication Date: 2006During a three-year secondment with Justice Canada, Ross travelled from the Yukon to Cape Breton Island, examining--and experiencing--the widespread Aboriginal preference for "peacemaker justice." In this remarkable book, he invites us to accompany him as he moves past the pain and suffering that grip so many communities and into the exceptional promise of individual, family and community healing that traditional teachings are now restoring to Aboriginal Canada.
Life Comes from It: Navajo Justice Concepts by Publication Date: 1994Journal article from the New Mexico Law Review detailing Navajo justice concepts, "Navajo justice is unique, because it is a product of the experience of the Navajo People. Prior to contact with European cultures, Navajos developed their ways of approaching life through many centuries of dealing with obstacles to their survival."
