Finding the Ways of the Ancestors (From Native Americans, Crime, and Justice, P 261-270, 1996, Marianne O Nielsen and Robert A Silverman, eds. -- See NCJ-168132)

• NCJ Number: 168163
• Author(s): E J Dickson-Gilmore
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Westview Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Edited version of an article in the Canadian Journal of Criminology, V 34, N 3-4.

Annotation

This discussion focuses on the competition between Aboriginal traditions of dispute resolution in Canada through the critique of the theory of invention of tradition, looking specifically at the so-called invented tradition of Longhouse justice at Kahnawake.

Abstract

It is within the realm of the present-day competition of legal traditions that the traditionalist Mohawks of Kahnawake, like many other Aboriginal nations, face one of their most compelling challenges, namely the re-creation of traditional legal systems subsequent to nearly a century of government efforts to eradicate those traditions. Within the Mohawk context, there remains little original, purely oral record that outlines those traditions. Much of what remains comes from two sources: the contemporary written records of non-Mohawks and extrapolation from modern ethnographic studies that deal with dispute resolution in similar cultural groups. The modern social problems faced by current legal systems often require more complex responses than pure tradition can provide. The traditional people of the Longhouse at Kahnawake, those who represent themselves through the secretariat of the nation office, have chosen to focus on the core philosophies of their traditional modes of dispute resolution, but with a twist. The proposed "Longhouse Justice System" maintains the philosophy of restitution and responsibility, but adds these to the traditional political process of deliberations "over the fire." A comparison of the earliest tradition of feud with the Longhouse justice system shows significant differences both in terms of process and outcome. To the degree that the Longhouse system constitutes both a new and a recent tradition of Mohawk justice, its authenticity as a "true tradition" can be challenged; however, whether what Native people propose is "really traditional" is secondary to the importance of alleviating the current position of Native people within Canadian legal traditions. 3 notes