Navajo Peacemaking Case Study

When first considering the Navajo-Hopi land dispute as a topic of research, I anticipated a relatively light research paper discussing the local skirmishes between the two tribes. However, my research has yielded innumerable volumes of facts, figures and varying viewpoints on a struggle that has dominated the two tribes for over 100 years. The story is an ever-changing one, evolving from local conflict to forcible relocation to big business interests. The incredible breadth of the dispute's history makes it impossible to objectively cover the entire progression from all viewpoints. I will therefore focus on current issues - and their historical causes - facing the two tribes as they mutually approach

In her novel, Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir, Deborah A. Miranda theorizes that the underlying patronage of her father’s violent behavior arises from the original acts of violence carried out by the Spanish Catholic Church during the era of missionization in California. The structure of her novel plays an essential role in the development of her theory, and allows her to further generalize it to encompass the entire human population. “In this beautiful and devastating book, part tribal history, part lyric and intimate memoir, Deborah A. Miranda tells stories of her Ohlone Costanoan Esselen family as well as the experience of California Indians as a whole through oral histories, newspaper clippings, anthropological recordings, personal reflections, and poems.” Patching together every individual source to create the story of a culture as a whole, Miranda facilitates the task of conceptualizing how Societal Process Theory could play into the domestic violence she experiences growing up as the daughter of a California Indian.

The IRS approved deductions for Navajo healing ceremonies, which are performed to lessen pain and eradicate curses by using songs and chants. These kinds of alternative therapies are deductible if they're prescribed to alleviate a medical, emotional or psychological condition. Alternative therapies that qualify for itemized medical deductions include hydrotherapy, electroshock therapy, whirlpool baths and other treatments.

Although, the ritual has been passed on from generation to generation, how the Navajo rituals are ways of communication has been questioned by so many. Many believe that it way for the patient to come into “…harmony…

We are learning that when genuine 'Indigenous' Justice is hiding under the cloak of Western paradigms, we continue to see the rising population of Indigenous peoples--especially Indigenous women--in prisons. Our programs and rehabilitative initiatives remain under Western paradigms, even when painted with the brush of 'restorative' or 'indigenous'

Many people feel that they must act as society desires, or conform to society, despite what internal pain may be caused. In general, people are expected to fit in with the norm whether it be a charade or not. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter many of the characters struggle with this concept, one of whom is Arthur Dimmesdale, the town preacher, and Hester Prynne's partner in sin. ` For the entirety of his life, Dimmesdale's purpose had been to preach for his people.

The Round House dives deep into the elements and distinctions of justice and non-justice. This book provides readers with an in-depth story surrounding the rape of a Native Indian woman, and the struggles herself and her family face when coming to terms with the horrible reality. Questions of what justice means and how to go about attaining that justice arise. Unfortunately, for Geraldine and her family court mandated justice may never be served, due to issues of jurisdiction that surround Indian reservations. Post Geraldine’s attack her husband and son, Bazil and Joe, are left feeling that they must take action to attain justice for Geraldine. Both Bazil and Joe want to protect Geraldine, for she is left feeling weak and isolated after her attack. It proves difficult for the men in Geraldine’s life to be able to understand what she has gone through, but they try. Geraldine not only runs into issues of jurisdiction when reaching for justice but also issues of gender bias. Due to the nature of Geraldine’s case, it is not always viewed as a pressing issue by law enforcement. The Round House depicts many different instances of women being mistreated by both Native and non-Native men. In a way all the women in The Round House are searching for their own justice, and that justice is brought to life in complicated and unusual ways.

Every culture has their own way of life, their own religious beliefs, their own marriage beliefs, their own values and feelings on life and the options it has to offer. Each culture has their own way to run things within their own government, and own way to keep their economy up to their standards. Also each culture and society have their own primary mode of subsistence that makes them unique. Among the Navajo culture their primary mode of subsistence are pastoralists.   Pastoralists have an impact on different aspects with in the culture.   The aspects that I will be discussing will be the Navajo’s beliefs and values, economic organization, gender relations and sickness and healing.

The Navajo people believe that creation began in another world. Originally the Navajo began as insects on the first world. Due to continuous quarrelling the leaders of the realm force them

The horror genre is characterized by many different traits, some more distinct and impactful than others. These characteristics manifest in varying ways in varying tales, for a plethora of reasons, likely because of the effect on the audience. “The Monkey’s Paw” by William W. Jacobs fits into the horror genre because of its foreshadowing, suspense, and characters. To start off with, foreshadowing keeps the audience focused on the story, it helps them make predictions and theories about events that occur later on. A notable form of foreshadowing, used in paragraph sixty, ‘‘Well I don’t see the money

In the article “Domestic violence against indigenous women is everybody’s problem” domestic violence is depicted as a serious social problem that involves “unspeakable acts of violence” that leaves victims experiencing fear and despair (Taylor 2014). More specifically, the social construction of domestic violence will be discussed with an emphasis on Aboriginal women and a typology of intimate partner violence. The social construction of domestic violence has serious implications for victims of domestic abuse because there is a failure to address the processes that perpetuate the violence. Instead, domestic violence is addressed through the illusion of social support. What is evident is that domestic violence is a social problem that requires comprehensive services, particularly for indigenous women, to address the complexity of the interaction between the individual’s social location and the causes that lead to the violence.

The Diné means “The People” and it is what the people that we know presently as the Navajo went by. The Red Nation article “Considering a Navajo Name Change: Self-Identification, Land, and Liberation” by Majerle Lister states that “‘Navajo’ is not a Diné word or concept, despite its use as our [the Diné] official name for more than a hundred and fifty years.” This is a clear example of how settler colonialism has impacted the Navajo Nation. Settler colonialism has had an impact in the Peoplehood matrix of the Navajo from language and sacred history to place/territory and ceremonial cycles, yet it has not stop efforts from the Navajo Community to mend the damage that settler colonialism has had on their culture over the years.

In Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko explores not only the consequences of a fractured identity, but also the function and efficacy of Navajo “curing” ceremonies in reconstructing a sense of self. The protagonist in Ceremony, Tayo, is introduced within the narrative as a recent war veteran suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder who returns home to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation only to feel isolated and lost within his painful war memories. Tayo’s feelings of disconnection are intensified by his mixed ancestral heritage as well as by his alienation from his cultural and spiritual identity.

While the restorative justice movement has risen in recent years, the idea of circle sentencing, or peacemaking circles has been practiced in indigenous cultures for quite some time. As we look at implementing traditional indigenous culture practices as alternative dispute resolutions, we need to realize the effectiveness and also whether we are ready to use them. The Yukon and other communities reintroduced circles in 1991 as a practice of the restorative justice movement (Bazemore, 1997, p.27). Around that same time, Minnesota made the breakthrough in borrowing the practices with each band of Native Americans having their own political communications. Because Minnesota has seven

The media plays a big role in society. Watching television, listening to the radio, and news media are a staple in American day to day activities (Mantsios 610). The media makes Americans in the United States unaware that there is a stratification of class in America. “We maintain these illusions, in large part, the media hides gross inequalities from public view. In those instances when inequalities are revealed, we are provided with messages that obscure the nature of class realities and blame the victims of class-dominated society for their own plight,” (Mantsios 610). When we think of other countries, such as Africa, the first thing that comes to mind is the starving children of Africa. In the US, the media does not show the people who