ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the foundations of traditional Navajo justice and traditional dispute resolution methods and makes comparisons with non-Indian mediation and arbitration. Navajos are very aware of their justice traditions and, as Associate Justice Raymond D. Austin of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court puts it, Navajos ate "going back to the future" by reviving traditional justice methods. The Navajo courts are a leader among the 170 or more American Tribal Courts: they preserve Navajo cultural values to an unusual extent, and Navajos are actively using their contemporary traditional law. The process of helping a patient return to harmony involves invoking supernatural powers for assistance, driving out evil forces, and utilizing the force of solidarity to help the patient achieve a return to continuing relationships with the group. The traditional Navajo legal system—a horizontal one—is based on clan relationships.
