restorative justice

First-time offenders learn accountability through diversion program run by tribal elders

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The 2012 Annual Tulalip Tribal Court Report states 415 criminal cases were heard in court. Included in that 415, are 24 newly filed criminal alcohol charges and 69 disposed, meaning judicial proceeding have ended or a case that has been resolved. Also counted in that 415, are 76 newly filed criminal drug cases and 126 disposed. Helping to tackle these numbers is a group of volunteer Tulalip elders, who are teaching offenders accountability in a traditional way, and saving the court thousands of dollars...

Native Nations
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Citation

Montreuil, Brandi N. "First-time offenders learn accountability through diversion program run by tribal elders." Tulalip News. March 19, 2014. Article. (http://www.tulalipnews.com/wp/2014/03/19/first-time-offenders-learn-acco..., accessed May 5, 2023)

Yurok tribe's wellness court heals with tradition

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Lauren Alvarado states it simply: “Meth is everywhere in Indian country.”

Like many here, she first tried methamphetamine at age 12. Legal trouble came at 13 with an arrest for public intoxication. In the years that followed, she relied on charm and manipulation to get by, letting her grandmother down often.

But today, at 31, Alvarado and her grandmother have built a new trust. She has been clean for nine months, she said recently, and is “hopeful, more grateful.”

Her recovery has come through a novel wellness program that puts traditional Yurok values to work to heal addicted men and women from California’s largest tribe, whose ancestral land -- and reservation -- hugs the banks of the Klamath River...

Native Nations
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Romney, Lee. "Yurok tribe's wellness court heals with tradition." Los Angeles Times. March 5, 2014. Article. (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yurok-wellness-court-20140304-story.html#axzz2vD6GrIw7, accessed March 10, 2014)

Health, Innovation and the Promise of VAWA 2013 in Indian Country

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Yesterday morning, we made our way north from Seattle, past gorgeous waterways, and lush greenery to visit with the Tulalip Tribes of western Washington, where we were greeted by Tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon, Vice Chairwoman Deb Parker, and Chief Judge Theresa Pouley. We saw first-hand, a tribal court system which serves to both honor the traditions of its people and to foster a renewed era of tribal self-determination...

Native Nations
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Citation

Jarrett, Valerie and Tony West. "Health, Innovation and the Promise of VAWA 2013 in Indian Country." President Obama and the Native American Community Blog. Washington, D.C. September 06, 2013. Article. (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/09/06/health-innovation..., accessed May 31, 2023)

Judge: Tribal courts can incorporate culture, but need independence, due process

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Tribal courts on the nation’s Indian reservations must make due process of law and independence hallmarks of their justice system, U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson told a gathering of judges and other tribal court personnel in Grand Forks Thursday. Tribes can and should incorporate such Indian cultural traditions as “peacemaker courts” and “talking circles,” Erickson said, and those features should be respected by people outside the tribes...

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Citation

Haga, Chuck. "Judge: Tribal courts can incorporate culture, but need independence, due process." Grand Forks Herald. June 20, 2013. Article. (http://www.crookstontimes.com/article/20130621/NEWS/130629909, accessed June 24, 2013)

Ore. tribal courts deliver 'restorative justice'

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For years, Judge Donald Costello sentenced offenders to jail and prison terms, only to see them back in his courtroom with nothing to show for their time served. Costello doesn't work that way anymore. Instead, he practices an innovative spin on the judicial system that has become an effective restorative-justice program...

Native Nations
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Citation

Richardson, Tyler. "Ore. tribal courts deliver 'restorative justice'." Associated Press, February 16, 2012. Article. (http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/1355312-151/tribal-courts..., accessed February 17, 2012)

A Way Out of Conflict

Producer
Nakwatsvewat Institute, Inc.
Year

"A Way Out of Conflict" is a short documentary film that provides an overview of how traditional dispute resolution approaches and strategies operate in Hopi communities today. It examines how the Hopi villages retain and exercise authority over the adjudication of certain types of disputes and offenses, and how they do so in a way that works to restore harmony to all parties involved.

Native Nations
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Citation

Nakwatsvewat Institute, Inc. "A Way Out of Conflict." 2007. Documentary. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUSnyvAdwyA, accessed February 27, 2023)

Courts & Peacemaking in the Navajo Nation: A Public Guide

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The history of our judiciary begins in our ancient history. According to the Journey Narrative, the People journeyed through four worlds and, in the course of their journey, came upon many problems both natural and caused by the People, which had to be resolved before the journey continued. The solution begins in a place of chaos, hóóchx̨o’/ anáhóót’i’.  When hóóchx̨o’/anáhóót’i’ is confronted, people may learn there is a choice to leave it.  When harmony, hózh̨̨ó, is self-realized, sustaining it will have clarity and permanent hózh̨̨ó will be self-attainable, hózh̨ǫ́ójí k’ehgo nįná’íldee’ iłhááhodidzaa ná’oodzíí’. In short, the concept of Diné justice is founded on the achievement of sustainable hózh̨̨ó, which is in the People’s own hands, and it is the duty of the judiciary to maximize this responsibility as far as our processes allow...

Native Nations
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Citation

Navajo Nation. Courts & Peacemaking in the Navajo Nation: A Public Guide. Navajo Nation. February 23, 2021. Guide. (https://courts.navajo-nsn.gov/publicguide.htm, accessed March 29, 2023)

The Dynamics of Navajo Peacemaking

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This article explains the traditional Navajo justice process using social psychology and Navajo discourse. It identifies the nayee or monster (things that get in the way of a successful life) in disputes in light of cognitive dissonance or the state of tension when a person holds two inconsistent beliefs. It then describes an approach to the excuses people give as a result. The article identifies and discusses the excuses and shows how traditional Navajo process addresses them. It outlines the dynamics of traditional Navajo justice to show that it is a practical means to resolve conflict. It also illustrates how a traditional Indian legal method can be replicated in the new field of restorative justice to better deal with crime, violence, and conflict.

Native Nations
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Citation

Zion, James. "The Dynamics of Navajo Peacemaking." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 58-74. February 1998. Article. (http://www.iirp.edu/eforum-archive/4204-the-dynamics-of-navajo-peacemaking, accessed August 21, 2014)

Navajo Peacemaking Guide

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Year

The concept of peacemaking or Hózhoji K’e Náhóodleel goes back to the beginning of time and is embedded in the journey narrative. In fact, according to the journey narrative, the Holy People journeyed through four worlds. In the course of their journey, they came upon many problems, which were either caused naturally or caused by the Holy People. The problems had to be addressed and resolved before the journey continued. The problems could be addressed by the use of prayers, songs and offerings. These remedies were incorporated into the Diné Traditional Ceremonies. Another way to address the problems was to talk about them in a controlled way. This talking out became the Diné peacemaking process.

The Diné traditional dispute resolution process is the Dine traditional “court of law and equity”. This process is known as Hózhoji nahat’á which can be loosely translated as reparation or mending of controversies through harmony. Diné Peacemaking is an adaptation of the traditional process...

Native Nations
Citation

Navajo Nation. Navajo Peacemaking Guide. Navajo Nation. September 2004. Guide. (http://www.navajocourts.org/Peacemaking/peaceguide.pdf, accessed August 21, 2014)

Restorative Dispute Resolution In Anishinaabe Communities - Restoring Conceptions of Relationships Based on Dodem

Producer
National Centre for First Nations Governance
Year

Social relationships, not political, hold communities together. In Anishinaabe communities, external colonial agencies created changes. External upheavals by colonial governments, education and helping agencies have eroded social structures that nourished communities. Yet, it is the Anishinaabe that are the ones that must improve social conditions. It has to be dealt with at the community level. We need to understand how we ordered our societies so that we can fix what was done to us as well as what we may have been complicit in. The restoration and recovery of social relationships cannot be divorced from governance discussions. It is the social relationships instituted in the Dodem system that will provide the supportive frame for successful governance restoration and support the development of Anishinaabe based justice. 

Native Nations
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Citation

Mcguire, Patricia D. "Restorative Dispute Resolution In Anishinaabe Communities - Restoring Conceptions of Relationships Based on Dodem." Research Paper for the National Centre for First Nations Governance. The National Centre for First Nations Governance. Canada. 2008. Paper. (https://fngovernance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/patricia_mcguire.pdf, accessed October 18, 2023)