Hozhooji Naat'aanii

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Navajos of Navajo Nation, in what is now named the United States (specifically Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah) follow a traditional method of justice called Hozhooji Naat'aanii. This method of justice is unlike modern-day court systems (Bluehouse & Zion, 1993).

The Navajo system of law, called beehaz aanii, is a fundamental and absolute foundation that has existed since the dawn of time, put in place by the Holy People. The Navajo people consider it a source of a healthy and meaningful life. Beehaz aanii is based on clan relationships. Disputes between individuals are resolved by relying on learned values, and through the mediation and intervention of clan or family members. It is a horizontal system of justice that prioritizes planning for peace, and relies on Navajo norms, customs, moral principles, values, and emotions as the law. Hozhooji Naat'aanii is a process of peacemaking, and is a ceremony in itself (Bluehouse & Zion, 1993).

In the Navajo worldview, disharmony is evidence of things being as they should not be – a state called anahot', or the opposite of harmony. The word “Hozho”, the root word for “Hozhooji” refers to the forces of solidarity (k’e) and clan membership (k’ei) (Bluehouse & Zion, 1993).

There are four types of participants in the process: The peacemaker (hozhooji naat'aanii), the parties to the conflict (naatchidi), family members, colleagues, friends, and others affected by the parties or having knowledge of the process (atah naaldeehi), and observers who can only watch (ha'a si di) (Navajo Courts, n.d.).

In the Navajo worldview, justice is related to healing - fundamentally, they consider the concepts the same. In response to illness, a medicine man will go to the root cause to understand what is wrong, what caused it, and what ceremony and remedy matches the illness to cure it (Yazzie, 2016). The peacemaker, in the case of a disharmony or conflict, does the same thing in the context of the dispute. The Navajo healing approach removes the cause for the illness and restores healing - in the justice context, this looks like removing the cause for the conflict and restoring harmony (Yazzie, 2016).

Hozhooji Naat’aanii takes place over several stages. First, the session opens with a prayer to call on the supernatural to support the process. This prayer also acts to set the ground rules for the disputants, and to determine and frame their attitudes and relationships ahead of the actual process. Then, a peacemaker explores each party’s position and how it is in a state of disharmony with that of the other, and then identify whether they are ready to attain Hozho. Then, the peacemaker offers lectures and advice on how and why the parties have violated Navajo values and the forces of solidarity and clan membership, and then discusses the dispute to help them begin to plan ways to end it altogether (Bluehouse & Zion, 1993). Finally, the parties work together in a dialogue, also called “talking things out,” where they arrive, consensually and non-coercively, at a conclusion to restore them to a state of harmony while maintaining their ongoing relationship with the larger community in a state of harmony.

The process ends with reparations or nalyeeh, or gifts and conciliatory words (k'e na asdlii, k'e nijisdlii, and k'eedi' neeh). The entire process recognizes that people have power that can be used in ways that affect others adversely, and for healing to take place, it is necessary to pay attention to such effects. It calls for catharsis through the self, voluntarily, without any external coercion. In the Navajo process, individuals are never labelled offenders or victims, but rather as wrongdoers and harmed parties. The outcome prioritizes lasting healing through learning, dialogue, emotional expression, and stories. Ceremonies involving prayers, songs, and offerings are included, and food is served at the successful conclusion of a peacemeaking process.

References

Bluehouse, P., & Zion, J. W. (1993). Hozhooji Naat'aanii: The Navajo justice and harmony ceremony. Mediation Quarterly, 10(4), 327-337.

Navajo Courts (n.d.). Hózh̨Óji Naat’aah – (Diné Traditional Peacemaking). https://courts.navajo-nsn.gov/Peacemaking/Plan/peace.html

Yazzie, R. (2016). Life Comes From It: Navajo justice. https://www.dailygood.org/story/1327/life-comes-from-it-navajo-justice-chief-justice-robert-yazzie/