Returning to the Circle: The Reemergence of Traditional Dispute Resolution in Native American Communities

An examination of Native American cultural definitions of justice illustrates the cultural relevance of traditional dispute resolution processes. Because these alternative processes focus largely on community inclusion and the importance of party healing after a crime, concepts central to Native American worldview, traditional dispute resolution is superior to the mainstream adversarial court system for handling many criminal matters in the Native American context. The successes of traditional dispute resolution processes in Native American communities are also evidence of the potential cross cultural applications of such processes within the mainstream criminal justice syste