Report on Holistic and Traditional Justice Roundtable

This publication provides a detailed description of the “Holistic & Traditional Justice Roundtable” held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on November 13, 2015 (see Appendix B). More than 24 Indian Law experts attended the Roundtable and participated in a full day discussion, which yielded considerable insights on holistic and traditional justice. Among the attendees were tribal court judges, tribal supreme court and appellate justices, legal aid attorneys, nonprofit staff attorneys and executive directors, private practice attorneys, a tribal councilwoman, an undergraduate professor, and at least six law school professors.With such a broad group of professionals, each having extensive experience in the field of Indian Law, the discussion was extraordinarily fruitful and limited only by the time allotted.

The discussions were divided into three separate sessions: (1) Defining the “Native Standard” in Restorative Justice Practices, Traditional Justice, and Peacemaking; (2) The Applications of Tribal Justice Systems and Indigenous Law; and (3) Intersections between Restorative Justice, Traditional Justice, Peacemaking, and Adversarial Courts (Including Alternatives to Detention). Each session began with presentations by two or three Indian Law practitioners and concluded with moderated roundtable group discussions involving all of the attendees.

Download the full report (pdf) by the National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA).