Justice: The Anishinaabe Way

Bear Father, Bear Son by Norval Morrisseau 

In the Anishinaabe community, the clan system govern every aspect of life, including justice. The Aashinaabemowin language does not have a word for justice, but the closest term to it is Menobimadizen, meaning "living a good life" or "living a life in balance." The philosophy underlying justice is reflected in the statement: “Do not condemn the person with a problem, but show them friendship and compassion. If we only look at the person and the problem with anger or hate, nothing will ever be accomplished.”

The justice system is centred on looking for the root cause of the issue and all related factors that enabled and caused the turmoil to take place. This is followed by every effort to support the people involved in addressing the issue. The Anishinaabe way, profoundly holistic, strives to bring community into the process of addressing justice. Looking at the root cause and related factors helps address the same problem with many aspects in mind. Bringing community into the fold to do justice is centred in the desire to speak to the behaviour rather than the individual, recognizing that dysfunctional behaviour can be damaging to the entire community at large. Accordingly, all justice processes centred transparency and accountability, making sure that nothing was covered up.

Moving away from punishments, the Aashinaabe way embeds care in its interventions. This ensures that every person born into a community is retained within it. Most issues and conflicts are addressed at the homes of the individuals involved. If the issue or conflict is serious, a meeting is called with the whole community present. Once the issue is addressed to everyone’s satisfaction, the issue is never mentioned again, outside that space. For very grave, perhaps the most serious cases that threatened community harmony, circle processes were used.  

Traditional peacekeepers play a key role in policing in the community. Aside from chiefs and spiritual leaders, designated peacekeepers, called oganawengike (the keeper), odabaajimoog (the reporters), and onagachecheka (the one who watches), are appointed to keep a watchful eye over the community. Together, they’re called the omaminomowayak, or the people who set things right. These individuals travelled throughout the territories, paying attention to imbalances and disruptions to peace, to set things right.

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Inuit Justice

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Igbo Justice