ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an approach to law that consists of norms and values that are identified, applied, and enforced by legal institutions, including traditional bodies. It suggests that the proper approach for Navajos is to identify and rethink their traditional values, then use them in both traditional and modern legal institutions. Statistics compiled in a report by the Navajo Nation Department of Law Enforcement show that 0.6 to 1% of Navajos over age 18 are victims of domestic violence. In October, 1991, subcommittees of the Navajo Nation Council, in cooperation with the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch, held a hearing on the scope and impact of domestic violence. Navajo norms and values, foundations of the Navajo common law, make it clear that women are equal with men, have a religiously sanctioned status through identity with Changing Woman, and have rights that arise from individual dignity.
