299

Chapter 15
Indigenous Ceremonial
Peacemaking:
The Restoration of Balance and Harmony
Polly O. Walker
Juniata College, USA

ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Indigenous conceptualizations of peace, focusing on some Native American, First
Nations, Native Hawaiian, and Australian Aboriginal approaches, with an emphasis on peacemaking
ceremonies. The author articulates some of the central tenets of Indigenous paradigms and explains how
these shape historical and contemporary peacemaking, both among Indigenous peoples and between
Indigenous and Western peoples. The ways in which colonialism has impacted Indigenous peacemaking
are also explored, along with examples of the resilience of Indigenous approaches to peace. Finally, the
chapter proposes ways in which “collaborations of integrity” have transformed contemporary conflicts
by re-centering Indigenous peacemaking processes.

INTRODUCTION

For centuries, Indigenous peoples’ ceremonial approaches to peace have sustained these nations, their
ways of being, and their relationship to the natural world. Although colonialism has severely impacted
Indigenous languages, cultures, and governance, a number of Indigenous peoples continue to practice
peacemaking as embedded in their own worldviews. In this chapter, the author explores the tenets that
characterize a number of Indigenous approaches to peace, the ways in which these peacemaking pro-
cesses have been impacted by colonialism, and ‘collaborations of integrity’1 in which both Indigenous
and Settler peoples address contemporary conflicts through Indigenous ceremonial peacemaking. The
author argues that Indigenous peacemaking may inform wider processes of peacebuilding, and that to
do so requires the development of respectful and reciprocal relationships and collaborations between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous peacemaking ceremonies are powerful events sustaining Indigenous peoples and their
cultures, even in the face of the onslaught of colonialism, in part because they engage individuals and
collectives in holistic ways. Mind, body, spirit and connections with the natural world are revitalized

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3001-5.ch015

Copyright © 2019, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

and rebalanced in Indigenous ceremonies, which are regarded both as sacred and practical traditions
among Indigenous peoples.
Indigenous ceremonies have a long history in peacemaking across differences. Haudenosaunee di-
plomacy on the American frontier involved days of ceremonies that included oratory, dancing, eating,
smoking and drinking before any verbal negotiations were undertaken (Shannon, 2008, p. 12). These
ceremonies also incorporated the exchange of wampum belts and songs that both symbolized and
strengthened friendship (Shannon, 2008, p. 13). The rituals established obligations among participants to
meet regularly and exchange gifts, with the purpose of keeping alive the relationships they represented.

In particular, the condolence and requickening ceremonies became the paradigms by which they engaged
diplomacy and extended their notions of kinship and reciprocal obligations to outsiders. (Shannon,
2008, p. 43)

Similarly, before the British invasion, Aboriginal Australian diplomacy involved rituals of exchange
with the Maccassans, with whom Aboriginal Australian peoples established long-term reciprocal rela-
tionships (De Costa, 2009).
A number of Western scholars also maintain that ritual2 is an effective peacemaking process. Tom
Driver (1991, p. 175) claims that ritual is a powerful, holistic force, transforming not only individuals,
but also the societies in which they live. Lisa Schirch (2005) explains how ritual transforms conflict
through holistic processes that engage “people’s minds, bodies, all or many of their senses, and their
emotions.” Michelle LeBaron (2003) states that through ritual, individuals both reaffirm relationship
networks and transform identities, roles and relationships within those networks. Most importantly in
terms of transforming conflicts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, ceremonies “connect
people across difference’ (LeBaron, 2003, p. 278).
The time cosmology of ceremony is also conducive to conflict transformation. Ceremonial time is
considered to be in flux, with past, present and future co-existing in the same space (LeBaron, 2003; Peat,
1994). These expanded notions of time in Indigenous ceremonies create opportunities for the transfor-
mation of historical and contemporary conflicts, as well as enhancing the sustainability of peace in the
future. Physicist F. David Peat maintains that within the spacetime of Indigenous ceremony, participants
can access all aspects of time and can move through them to effect balance and harmony (Peat, 1994).
Indigenous ceremonial leaders and participants describe how injustices of the past have been called into
the present and addressed through ceremonial time. Furthermore, generations not yet born are also invited
into the flux of past, present and future, with the purpose of setting conflict prevention mechanisms in
place for the coming generations.

BACKGROUND

In addition to differing notions of time, Indigenous peacemaking ceremonies share a number of charac-
teristics that distinguish them from dominant Western peacebuilding processes. These ceremonies arise
out of Indigenous ontologies and include the following tenets:

• Peacemaking is place based - in relationship with particular sites and the natural world.
• Spirituality is integral to peacemaking.

300

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

• Peacemaking honors interconnectedness.

• The purpose of peacemaking is to restore harmony and balance.

In speaking in more detail regarding these Indigenous approaches to peace, it is necessary to clarify
how this author uses the contested term ‘Indigenous’ which is often applied to the first peoples of a na-
tion or land who have been impacted by the colonial endeavor. Most Indigenous peoples prefer to use the
original names for their people, names that are often not widely known, rather than use a generic term
such as Indigenous that encompasses many different first peoples’ communities and nations. The term
Indigenous also is entangled with colonialism: there are numerous legal definitions regarding who is and
is not Indigenous, with many of these definitions being controlled by dominant governance systems and
based on Western concepts of blood quantum, membership rolls, or other forms of documentation that
are foreign to Indigenous traditions. However, some scholars agree that Indigeneity is best characterized
by relationship with place that predates European contact (Beier, 2009). Parisi and Corntassel (2009,
p. 82) offer the following guidelines for defining Indigeneity: self-identification at the individual and
community levels, and historical continuity with pre-colonial societies. In spite of its many limitations
and contestations, this author has chosen to use the term Indigenous, which allows one to discuss the
many similarities in worldview across first peoples’ peacemaking processes.
Indigenous approaches to peace are complex and have been implemented in international diplomacy
for hundreds of years. Indeed, Parisi and Corntassel (2009) point out,

Indigenous nations have practiced diplomacy long before first contact with colonial powers by sending
delegations to global destinations in order to foster new alliances of peace and friendship. (p. 83)

Furthermore, a number of Indigenous peacebuilding endeavors have been sustained over long peri-
ods of time. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance between the formerly warring nations of the
Oneida, Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga, had enjoyed hundreds of years of peace at the time
of contact with Europeans (Shannon, 2008; Williams, 1994).

MAIN FOCUS OF THE CHAPTER

There are thousands of Indigenous nations around the world, and this author makes no claim to speak
to all of their peacemaking processes. Instead, this chapter focuses on the Indigenous nations with
whose members the author has collaborated, and it seeks to articulate some common principles of their
peacemaking and diplomacy.
Researchers such as Maori scholar Stewart-Harawira (2009) comment on both the importance of
Indigenous peacemaking principles and the commonalties across these traditions, and while

…there is no single or essential Indigenous ontology or cosmology there, nonetheless, are similar sets of
beliefs and principles that have been passed down and articulated by Indigenous leaders and scholars
and are highly relevant to the development of international and local diplomacies today. (pp. 209-210)

Mohawk scholar Taiaiake Alfred (2009) also comments on the diversity of Turtle Island’s3 Indigenous
peoples, and at the same time notes a common commitment to “a world view that values autonomy but

301
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

also recognizes a universal interdependency and promotes peaceful co-existence among all the elements
of creation” (p. 14).
This chapter focuses on ceremonial peacemaking processes drawn from Turtle Island including the
Diné (Navajo), Rotinohshonni (Haudenosaunee or Iroquois), Tsalagi (Cherokee), as well as Kānaka Maoli
(Native Hawaiian)4, and Aboriginal Australian Peoples. Despite being impacted by colonialism, all of
these peoples have practiced their peacemaking ceremonies for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and
continue to implement them to address contemporary conflicts.
The Navajo Justice and Harmony Ceremony, Hozhooji Naat’aanii, is a traditional peacemaking pro-
cess implemented in contemporary conflicts (Yazzie, 1995; Bluehouse & Zion, 1993). This ceremony
restores balance to the wider community through prayer, traditional teachings, open expression of emo-
tions, discussion, consensus and reconciliation (Yazzie, 1995, p. 10). Hozhooji Naat’aanii is designed to
support autonomy in relationship, and to balance individual rights and group needs (Yazzie, 1995, p. 16).
Haudenosaunee peacemaking ceremonies arise from the Deganawidah Epic, the creation story of
the Confederacy (Williams, 1994, p. 996). These include condolence and requickening rituals that have
sustained peace through the generations (Shannon, 2008). As Alfred (2009) explains, a full understand-
ing of this ceremony, and other Indigenous ceremonies, comes only through respectful relationship and
participation, although an awareness of the importance of Indigenous peacemaking may be drawn from
written descriptions and explanations of these rituals. The condolence ceremony transforms losses into
strength, and the requickening ritual consists of “wiping the eyes, cleansing the throat, and unblocking the
ears… something that will make them capable of seeing, hearing and speaking their way back to peace”
(Alfred, 2009, p. 18). These ceremonies sustained the complex network of relationships that constituted
Haudenosaunee international alliances and preserved the Great Peace (Williams, 1994, pp. 998 & 1004).
A Cherokee peacemaking ceremony called the Talking Circle is used to transform conflicts and
bring balance and harmony to relationships within an extended network of humans and the natural world
(Garrett, 1998, pp. 80-83). Talking circles are based on the Cherokee tradition of donelawega, using
circles to build community (Garrett, 1998; Wilbur, Wilbur, Garrett & Yuhas, 2001). These peacemak-
ing sessions are designed to heal relationships as well as to solve specific problems (Awiakta, 1993, p.
289; Garrett, 1998, pp. 80-83).
Ho’oponopono is a Native Hawaiian ceremonial approach to peacemaking that engages mental,
physical, and spiritual aspects of the participant’s lives with the natural world (Boggs & Chun, 1990;
Shook & Kwan, 1987). Ho’oponopono means ‘setting to right’ and is designed to restore harmony and
to prevent conflicts from becoming entrenched (Boggs & Chun, 1990, p. 123). Ho’oponopono has been
practiced for centuries, although it was restricted during colonization due to the influence of Christian
missionaries (Boggs & Chun, 1990, p. 125).
Aboriginal Australian peoples’ conflict management rituals include interrelatedness with Place and
negotiations among a wide network of relationships. These rituals are often not recognized as conflict
transformation by Western scholars or practitioners because they occur through a networked relational-
ity that may unfold over an extended period of time, allowing for the conflict to transform, but which
through a western lens is often seen as chaotic (Graham, Brigg & Walker, 2010).
Although these peacemaking processes vary, they share several common tenets: relationship with
Place5, integration of spirituality, honoring interconnectedness, and moving toward balance and harmony.
These tenets are often overlooked in Western peace studies scholarship and it is important to understand
the critical role they play in Indigenous approaches to peace.

302

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Relationship with Place

Indigenous conceptualizations of Place include both specific sites in the natural world and the interrela-
tionships between these sites and the Indigenous peoples that care for them. Meyer maintains “Indigenous
people are all about place…. Land is our mother. This is not a metaphor” (2008, p. 219).
Relationships with Place, with specific sites, are a central aspect of the paradigms that underlie these
peacemaking ceremonies, and creating peace requires activating relationships of respect with places of
significance. These relationships are reciprocal relations of care, with people taking care of Place, and
Place caring for and guiding people. Western Apache say “wisdom sits in places,” and therefore they
engage in relationships that sustain and revitalize both Apache and place (Basso, 1996, p. 8). In the
Navajo worldview, relationship with Place represents the lived reality of relationships with land, and
all processes of the natural world including plants, animals and landforms. Place also shapes ceremony,
informing Navajo peoples about what ceremonies are needed (Tso, 2005, p. 37).
In Aboriginal Australian conflict management, Place is a central participant. Mary Graham, Kom-
bumerri senior woman of the Gold Coast of Australia, explains that Place supports human resilience
through connectedness with the natural world:

Place, whether direct or mediated through Place’s role as a template for social relatedness, provides
Aboriginal people with a type of unconditional ontological security…Place serves as a sentient com-
panion, a calibrating device that informs Aboriginal people of ‘where’ and who they are at any time.
The individual person is never pitched against the world as a conscious isolate. She or he is never
alone, because the world is alive and animated, through the Dreaming, with a wide range of beings
and because she or he is always ‘emplaced’ – and called into existence- through this same Dreaming.
(Graham, Brigg & Walker, 2010, p. 81)

In Cherokee worldview, land is a relative and a force that supports peacemaking. Cherokee elders
speak of how those who were forced to join the ethnic cleansing known as the Trail of Tears said goodbye
to the mountains as they were leaving, mourning their loss of a relative. They also describe the strength
that arises from Place as a force that sustains and supports Cherokee people in striving for balance and
harmony (Tom Belt, personal communication, July 22, 2011).

Integration of Spirituality

Spirituality is integral to these Indigenous peacemaking ceremonies, and includes prayer, calling in an-
cestors, and engaging with respect and reciprocity with a living cosmos. Tewa Pueblo scholar Gregory
Cajete (2000) explains that in the Native Paradigm everything is alive, animated with spirit. This is one
of the aspects of Indigenous conceptualizations of peace that is most challenging to scholars working
in the dominant Western paradigm; and academic gatekeepers and Western policy makers continue to
marginalize or silence spiritual aspects of Indigenous peace processes (Walker, 2004).
Haudenosaunee peacemaking rituals openly address the spiritual aspects of human experience and
involve the development of orenda, the spiritual power of each person. The Great Law of Peace supports
the development of each person’s orenda, as it exists in relationship to the wellbeing of their community,
their nation and the confederacy (Great Law of Peace, 1999).

303
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Leaders of Navajo peacemaking ceremonies call on ancestors and the spirit world to facilitate the
restoration of balance and harmony. For example,

To Navajos, a ceremony is a means of involving supernatural assistance in the larger community of

reality. People gather in a circle to resolve problems but include supernatural forces within the circle’s
membership. (Yazzie, 2005b, p. 50)

Within the Navajo ceremonies, prayer summons ancestors and also,

prepares the parties for the ‘talking out’ to come, commits them to engage in that process sincerely
and ‘in a good way,’ and starts them on the beginning of the process of reconciliation to achieve hózhó
through consensus. (Zion, 2005, p. 93)

Likewise, the Cherokee describe their peacemaking as holistic, integrating both spiritual and civic
aspects of participants’ experience (Awiakta, 1993; Garrett, 1998). The Talking Circles begin with
prayer. They may also include soft drumming or flute music, connecting participants to the Spirits and
to the heartbeat of mother earth. Cherokee beliefs are also evidenced through the use of a talking stick
that “spiritually empowers its holder to speak his or her heart-truth as an offering to the group” (Wilbur,
Wilbur, Garrett, & Yuhas, 2001, p. 373).
Within all of these ceremonies, ancestor spirits play a central role. For example, in Ho’oponopono
the leader invites relatives who have died and who will participate in spirit form. These aumakua, are
relations who remain senior members of communities even though they are no longer present in bodily
form (Shook & Kwan, 1987, p. 7). Likewise, ancestors are often invoked as participants in the Cherokee
Talking Circle (Garrett, 1998), and the Navajo Justice and Harmony Ceremony (Bluehouse & Zion,
1993; Yazzie, 1995).
Aboriginal Australian peoples’ connection to spirituality in conflict management rituals arises from
the Dreaming and provides a template for dealing with conflict and building peace. Australian anthro-
pologists Berndt and Berndt explain that,

when there is consciousness of a shared tradition, of ritual and sacred mythology held in common, this
has helped to widen the horizon, drawing more people into the safe, known world of human beings
….where the rules of killing or making peace are understood and accepted. (Berndt & Berndt cited in
De Costa, 2009, p. 64)

Honoring Interrelatedness

Indigenous paradigms are marked by interrelatedness: among humans, between humans and the natural
and spirit worlds. These relationships are characterized by respect and reciprocity. (Stewart-Harawira,
2009, p. 216)

The Indigenous approaches to peace discussed in this chapter are based on a paradigm of interconnected-
ness. In the Cherokee Talking Circle, participants understand themselves to be connected to each other
and to all things. The physical circle in which they are seated depicts this emphasis on interconnections;
the participants are placed in positions of equality, and no hierarchy is established (Garrett, 1998). Chero-

304

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

kee peacemaking is designed to restore balance and harmony to a web of relationships through “talking
things out” (E. Bushyhead, personal communication, March 26, 2017). These interconnections extend
beyond physical proximity. In the Cherokee language, there is no word for goodbye; the word used for
leave taking is donadagohvi, meaning in a deeper sense that we will always see each other again, if not
in this world, in spirit form.
Likewise, the Ho’oponopono ceremony is based in a worldview that values interconnectedness, as
seen in the metaphors used in this peacemaking process. For example, Shook and Kwan (1987, pp. 10-
12) explain that when speaking informally about conflict, Native Hawaiians use the metaphor “all jam
up,” an entanglement of relationships that is redressed by Ho’oponopono, which “straightens the way’
by restoring relationships and correcting behavior.
The Haudenosaunee describe their condolence ceremonies as “… linking arms together,” a metaphor
depicting relationships with allies that are based on a sustained commitment to interrelatedness (Shan-
non, 2008, p. 43). In the Haudenosaunee worldview, an individual is defined not as a skin-bounded
person but as part of a network of relationships that were sustained through rituals of exchange. Shannon
(2008) explains that,

Gifts given in diplomatic encounters established mutual obligations between the giver and recipient…
the objects involved gave tangible form to the emotions and relationships expressed in the negotiations:
friendship, esteem, alliance (p. 23),

demonstrating intent to maintain the relationship over longer periods of time.

The Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace reflects the importance of maintaining balance in relation-
ships. Both women and men hold positions of power to ensure balance and equality among the people
(Lyons, cited in Awiakta, 1993, pp. 169-273). Lyons (cited in Awiakta, 1993, pp. 269-273) also explains
that in the Grand Council, the Clan Mothers are present to ensure that the decisions of the Clan Chiefs
correspond to the Great Law of Peace.
The Navajo Justice and Harmony ceremony focuses on the restoration of relationship and is designed
to move participants toward consensus and heal the alienation experienced by offenders by engaging
processes that allow them to once again become accepted members of the group (Bluehouse & Zion,
1993; Yazzie, 1995). Bluehouse and Zion (1993) explain that ‘the method is effective because it focuses
on the parties with goodwill to reintegrate them into their community’ (p. 334).
Likewise, Native Hawaiian Ho’oponopono focuses on restoring harmonious relationships and is
based on a relational worldview in which a human is defined as “a self embedded in family relationships
that include manifestations and relationships in the spiritual and natural world” (Shook & Kwan, 1987,
p. 9). The web metaphor illustrates the network of interconnections in which conflict has implications
for the community as a whole as well as for the individuals directly involved in the dispute (Shook &
Kwan, 1987, pp. 6-11).
The Cherokee Talking Circle reinforces and revitalizes relationships in a number of ways. The act of
sitting in a circle is a way of honoring relationships with others and the natural world. Traditional Na-
tive American teachings remind participants that the natural world moves in circles in many ways, and
being seated in a circle is designed to evoke interconnections with a vast web of relationships including
humans and the natural world (Wilbur, Wilbur, Garrett, & Yuhas, 2001). Participants are also reminded
to speak from their hearts, to be genuine with others in what they say (Garrett, 1998; Huber, 1993).

305
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Aboriginal Australian peoples’ conflict management is based on a relational social cosmology that
focuses on restoration of group harmony in relation with the natural world (Beattie, 1997; Behrendt,
1995, p. 7-17; Grose, 1995).

Indigenous Australians developed systems for encountering and engaging others beyond their communal
boundaries that were based on sensitivity to the interests of others and a concern for the environment,
relational systems that were shaped by a cosmological understanding of totality. (De Costa, 2009, p. 62)

Moving Toward Balance and Harmony

The peacemaking ceremonies discussed in this chapter emphasize balance and harmony. This state is
not one free of the reoccurrence of disturbances; rather balance and harmony represent a constant flux
that allows Indigenous peoples to continually return to a position of respect and reciprocity within an
extended network of relationships.
The Navajo Justice and Harmony Ceremony is based in concepts of movement and flux, with those
involved seeking to move as closely as possible toward a place of balance within their extended network
of relationships. Peacemakers Bluehouse and Zion (1993) explain that peacemakers evaluate participants’
responses by reflecting on the way a person is speaking:

Is it hashkeeji, (moving toward disharmony) or hozhooji (moving toward harmony). Bluehouse and Zion
(1993) go on to explain,“At the conclusion of the… ceremony, individuals are again in their proper place,
functioning harmoniously and in beauty with everything else.” (p. 332)

Yazzie (2005b) further clarifies Navajo peacemaking terminology, stating that,

Navajo values convey the positive forces of hózhóójí, which aims toward a perfect state…at the end of
the process, hozho should be achieved, and people describe it with the phrase Hozho nahasdlii. The
translation is to the effect that now that the process has been completed, the individuals involved are in
good relations and, indeed, all reality is in good relationship, with everything in its proper place and
relating with each other in hozho. (p. 49)

In the peacemaking ceremonies discussed in this chapter the processes are designed to balance and
rebalance a number of aspects of a conflict. For example, Cherokee teachings include an understanding
of the rule of opposites in which “it is more important for a person to look beyond surface value, such
as good or bad, in order to see what is true” (Garrett, 1970, p. 91). The rule of opposites is similar to
Lederach’s (2005) paradoxical curiosity, or holding in relationship two seemingly opposing energies,
choices or qualities. For example, for a Cherokee to be in balance she must find a way of both engaging
independence and belonging, two aspects of the Cherokee full circle. Haudenosaunee ceremonies are
based in similar principles of balancing and harmonizing opposites, as Alfred (2009) explains,

In the Rotinohshonni tradition, the natural order accepts and celebrates the coexistence of opposites;
human purpose is the perpetual quest for balance and harmony; and peace is achieved by extending the
respect, rights, and responsibilities of family relations to other peoples. (p. 12)

306

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Indigenous peoples have numerous terms for balance and harmony, and native speakers of Indigenous
languages more fully understand and express the meaning of this terminology. In the Cherokee language,
the word for peace is based on the root tōhi, “the proper or normal state of the world” (Altman & Belt,
2009, p. 13). Cherokee conceptualizations of peace are based on themes of balance in relationship to all
one’s relations: human, natural world and spirit world. “The normal state of the Cherokee universe is
described as being tōhi- smoothly flowing, evenly and moderately paced, fluid, and peaceful” (Altman
& Belt, 2009, p. 14). “Nvkwh tōhi: yada is the Cherokee word for peace, in which one is in harmony
and balance within oneself and with all of one’s relations in the natural and spirit worlds” (Altman &
Belt, 2009, p. 15).
Indigenous emphasis on balance and harmony can be seen in principles of autonomy in related-
ness found in Indigenous paradigms, in which individuals have freedom to act in accordance with their
conscience, but are also enjoined to calibrate those actions in relation to how they affect the network of
relationships that make up Indigenous worlds. An historical example of this principle is seen in Haude-
nosaunee peacemaking on the Turtle Island frontier “…keeping the peace within the Iroquois League
required maintaining a delicate balance of individual autonomy and communal obligations” (Shannon,
2008, p. 24). In the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, autonomy in relatedness can also be seen in the ways
in which children were trained to think independently and act relationally, with respect and reciproc-
ity toward their network of relationships (Williams, 2004, p. 1008). In writing about early Cherokee
diplomacy with Europeans, Reid (1976) notes, “Every Cherokee had a voice in the council, and every
Cherokee had a right to be heard” (pp. 4-5). Yet, in the long term the expression of individual desires
had to balance with obligations to the community.
Balance and Harmony are also enhanced by drawing on a wide range of relationships in Indigenous
peacemaking, which involves many people engaging in largely non-hierarchical relationships. For example,
women are integral to Cherokee peacemaking (Parisi & Corntassel, 2009), and in historical diplomacy
Cherokee “Women were equal to men in every respect” (Reid, 1976, p. 5). There is a well-documented
example of the importance of the balance of Cherokee women’s and men’s participation in international
diplomacy. Parisi and Corntassel (2009, p. 83) relate that “in the late 1770s a Tsalagi (Cherokee) peace
chief Ada gal’kala asked ‘Where are your women?’” when addressing an all male treaty delegation from
Britain. To the Cherokee, the absence of women meant that the British were neither serious nor respect-
ful in their attempts to ratify a treaty with the Cherokee (Awiakta, 1997). Likewise in early diplomacy
on the American frontier Haudenosaunee women and children were included in high-level diplomatic
missions, providing a gendered balance (Shannon, 2008).
The balance and harmony evidenced in Aboriginal conflict management is depicted as a sort of
“abidingness” in which “an essential humanity exists and runs its course…within a system whose first
principle is the preservation of balance” (Stanner, 1979, p. 40). In contemporary Aboriginal communities
“conflicts and violence are also managed skilfully in ways that restore balance to communities” (Graham,
Brigg & Walker, 2010, p. 77). Graham points out that this balance is not without contestation, but that
those differences are worked out within a network of relationships (Graham, personal communication,
Sept. 10, 2006).
These Indigenous peacemaking processes have demonstrated efficacy and resilience throughout the
colonial and neo-colonial eras. Nevertheless, it is also important to engage with the ways in which they
have been, and continue to be, impacted by colonial mindsets.

307
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Issues, Controversies, Problems

Although they continue to be practiced in many Indigenous nations and communities, Indigenous ap-
proaches to peace have been marginalized within Western scholarship and practice. Often ignored, and
sometimes appropriated, Indigenous peace processes have largely been excluded from the study of In-
ternational Relations (Beier, 2009), peace and conflict studies (Walker, 2004) and governance systems
(Graham, Brigg & Walker, 2010), impairing their ability to be as effective as possible.
A growing number of scholars critique the hegemony of Western peacebuilding, particularly in
relation to its marginalization and exclusion of Indigenous approaches (see Bagshaw, 2009; Brigg &
Walker, 2015). For example, Beier (2009, p. 5) argues that western diplomacies should not be permitted
to marginalize other approaches to peace that are just as capable of managing conflict and relationships.
The suppression of Indigenous approaches is a form of epistemic violence (Walker, 2004) that occurs in
part through attempting to understand Indigenous knowledge systems within “the operant cosmology of
Western academic discourse” (Beier, 2009, p. 12). This hegemonic authority (Beier, 2009, p. 15) seeks
to elevate Western approaches to peace as scientific and professional, and Indigenous approaches as
‘in need’ of professionalization through training and research conducted within western frameworks.
In contrast, a growing number of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars and practitioners
point out the many ways in which Indigenous peacemaking processes are being revitalized. They also
point toward the potential that Indigenous approaches to peace have to inform wider research and prac-
tice of conflict transformation. Nielsen and Zion (2005) highlight the growing international interest in
Indigenous peacemaking and the ways Indigenous processes can inform peacemaking around the world.
These scholars maintain that Indigenous peacemaking is not frozen in the past, but is continually being
modified in response to contemporary issues as well as to maintain traditional values and teachings
(Nielsen & Zion, 2005).
Stewart-Harawira, (2009) argues that processes designed to revitalize Indigenous diplomacies im-
pacted by colonialism must be as unique as the Indigenous communities from which they arise. However,
she also maintains that a common thread connects these processes of revitalization: “the necessity of
drawing on traditional knowledge sources such as songs, histories, and proverbs” (p. 220). The author
of this chapter would add the necessity of ritual and ceremony as foundational knowledge for shaping
Indigenous peacemaking in ways more fully responsive to contemporary conflicts.

SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In early contact between Indigenous peoples and people from other nations, there are some examples
of respect, reciprocity and relationship across differences in culture, diplomacy and peacemaking (see
Shannon, 2008; Williams, 1994; De Costa, 2009). When Indigenous peoples held the balance of power,
outsiders had little choice but to genuinely engage with Indigenous peoples and their ceremonial ap-
proaches to peace (Williams, 2008). For example, through their peacemaking rituals, members of the
Haudenosaunee confederacy engaged Europeans in,

the Covenant Chain… that became a bona fide intercultural phenomenon, blending native and colonial
customs in an effort to preserve peace and trade between the Iroquois and their Dutch and English
neighbors. (Shannon, 2008, p. 44)

308

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

However, as colonialism advanced European attitudes became increasingly dismissive of Indigenous

peoples processes, labeling them as primitive and pagan, marginalizing them, and in some cases making
them illegal. Colonial attitudes still shape Western engagement with Indigenous peacemaking ceremo-
nies, with many non-Indigenous people and media sources depicting them as entertainment rather than
as rigorous peacemaking processes in their own right (Walker, 2011).
In contrast there are a number of contemporary conflict transformation endeavors in Turtle Island and
Australia that demonstrate collaborations of integrity in which settler-descended and Indigenous peoples
have come together to form respectful relationships of mutuality and to effect measures of justice. In her
postdoctoral research, this author participated with and interviewed a number of participants and leaders
of peacemaking ceremonies designed to redress injustices arising from colonialism. These ceremonies
occurred in both Australia (i.e., the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial and the Brisbane Ceremonies for the
Stolen Generations); and in Turtle Island (i.e., the Nez Perce Memorial at Ft. Vancouver and the Twisp
Powwow in Twisp, Washington). The following section provides a brief overview of each ceremonial
process, and then moves on to explore the ways in which they re-center the following tenets of Indigenous
peacemaking: acknowledgement and celebration of relationship with Place, integration of spirituality,
revitalization of a wide web of relationships, and restoration of balance and harmony. The latter part of
this section provides illustrations of how injustices are addressed and peacemaking takes place.
The Myall Creek Massacre Memorial is held annually on June 10 at Myall Creek in New South Wales,
Australia, where in 1838 stockmen murdered old men, women and children of the Wirrayaraay Aboriginal
people. The stockmen attempted to cover up their crimes by burning the bodies, but were caught and
brought before the colonial court system. Although the stockmen were tried in a court of law, and some
were hanged, other massacres continued to occur under a deeper cloak of secrecy, and such atrocities
continued for another century. The ceremonies held at the Myall Creek memorial acknowledge both
historical and contemporary injustices arising out of colonial and postcolonial systems and processes.
Each year these ceremonies continue to facilitate measures of symbolic and restorative justice. Settler
descended peoples, immigrants and Indigenous peoples gather, participate in a pilgrimage to the mas-
sacre site where the silenced histories are orated and witnessed. Participants also commit themselves to
redressing contemporary injustices that have arisen from colonization. For example the Friends of Myall
Creek are active in the New South Wales Parliament and have been instrumental in gaining national
recognition, including formal listing and protection of the Massacre Site, along with plans for a museum
to more widely disseminate information on the ‘secret wars’ of Australia.
Ceremonies for the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal Peoples are held in Brisbane, Australia each
year on Sorry Day, May 26, to mark the injustices suffered by Aboriginal children and their families
due to the removal of those children from Aboriginal communities. These ceremonies also celebrate
a number of social justice initiatives involving Aboriginal peoples and settler descended people, and
strengthen the networks that sustain these endeavors. As both Aboriginal and settler people gather, they
are immersed in Aboriginal ceremony: traditional dance, music and other performative acts. They also
share information on social justice projects, highlight ongoing injustices that need to be addressed, and
celebrate respectful relationships among Indigenous and Settler peoples as foundational in building peace.
The Two Rivers Powwow is held on the traditional ceremonial meeting grounds of the Methow Na-
tion in Twisp, Washington, USA and it brings together descendants of settlers, members of the Methow
Nation, and other Indigenous peoples. The site is also marked by colonial violence: the United States
Army drove the Methow Indians from this valley in 1886 with sudden and brutal force. The Methow
people were not allowed to take any of their possessions with them, and left the valley with the linger-

309
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

ing scent of their abandoned dinner cooking over abandoned campfires. Each year, the history of the
Methow People is shared in a ceremonial manner, in a traditional meeting place at the confluence of two
rivers. Descendants of settlers and immigrants witness testimonies of the removal shared by Methow
and other Native peoples. New relationships of mutuality are celebrated, and social justice initiatives
are established, as explained in more detail in the next section.
The Nez Perce Ft. Vancouver Memorial is held at Fort Vancouver in Washington, and brings together
members of the Nez Perce Nation, military from Fort Vancouver, officials from the City of Vancouver,
and members of the surrounding community. The memorial acknowledges the history of violence on
the part of the United States Army that unjustly imprisoned Redhearts’ band, a peaceful group of Nez
Perce who were attempting to return to their designated reservation. During the internment, the Nez
Perce were kept in terrible conditions, put on display, and during that period a young boy died and was
buried in an unmarked grave, a source of deep grief and unaddressed injustice to the Nez Perce (Horace
& Wilfried Scott, personal communication, March 13, 2008). Annually people from all of these com-
munities gather to acknowledge and give voice to the history of colonial violence, to grieve, to heal, and
to celebrate new expanded relationships based in restorative justice. A number of significant initiatives
have been undertaken that restore not only human relationships across enemy divides, but relationships
with the natural world.
Research findings of this author (2011) indicate that these four annually recurring ceremonies have
transformed conflict and facilitated measures of sustainable peacebuilding through: engendering rela-
tionships of mutuality, developing participants’ capacities for engaging with ongoing personal and social
change, respectful engagement with Indigenous worldviews, and healing the wounds of colonialism.
In part these outcomes flow from the re-centering of Indigenous peoples, their worldviews and their
ceremonial processes of making peace. The ceremonies at the heart of these gatherings are created by
Indigenous peoples and reflect central tenets of Indigenous worldviews in that they:

• Are place based peacemaking processes, created in relationship with particular sites and the natu-
ral world.
• Integrate spirituality into the ceremonies.
• Honor multiple forms of interconnectedness.
• Are designed to restore harmony and balance.

Acknowledgement and Celebration of Relationship with Place

These ceremonies are Place based; they are held in relationship with particular sites and the natural
world. This lived relationship with Place provides both guidance and resilience for Indigenous peoples.
Processes of healing wounded spaces, or reclaiming place, such as those described in the previous section,
often precede celebration of relationship with Place in spaces that have been impacted by colonialism.
These celebrations are often related to a reconnection with these reclaimed spaces.
At the Two Rivers powwow site, Methow people have been meeting for centuries, ritually gathering
roots from the surrounding meadows and sharing them in communal meals designed to celebrate and
revitalize relationships between Methow and the natural world. In the memorial gatherings that now
integrate settler descendants and Methow people, new relationships of respect and mutuality are created

310

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

and celebrated. At the first powwow, Georgia Iukes, one of the Indigenous founders of the reconciliation
processes in the valley described the joy she felt to once again be in relationship with Place, to be able
to look up into the mountains where her Ancestors gathered the wild foods on which they were about to
feast (Iukes as cited in Mitchell, 2005).
For the Nez Perce, relationship with Place is seen in their reclamation of a place of great injustice
to a place where restorative justice has occurred. Spiritual leader Horace Axtell (personal communica-
tion, March 13, 2008) describes how he engaged in dialogue with the natural world to locate the grave
of the young Nez Perce boy who died during internment. Once the site had been located, a number of
Indigenous rituals were performed, a tree was planted, and a bench placed nearby to encourage rest and
reflection. The grounds surrounding the Fort are now sites of celebration where respectful relationships
have been restored.

Open Integration of Spirituality

At the Two Rivers Powwow, the Methow call in their ancestors, as Colville elder Stephen Iukes explains,

The Ancestors of these ones from the valley are still here, the Spirits are still here. By singing these
songs we sing that they might be awakened again, to know that they are not forgotten. (Mitchell, 2005)

John Grosvenor, Echota Cherokee, describes the spiritual significance of many of the rituals in the
powwow, “When we dance, in theory, every time a foot hits the earth, it’s a prayer, and the singing,
eating, and drinking are also part of that spiritual connection to the land” (cited in Stamper, 2006, p. 3).
Spirituality also permeates the Nez Perce Memorials through prayer and pipe ceremonies that link
spirit, human and natural worlds. The empty saddle ceremony is a particularly poignant ritual that honors
those no longer alive in this world, but present in spirit. Nez Perce, and their horses alike, in full regalia
with fine beadwork, parade the campground, and at the end of the equestrian line is a horse with an
empty saddle, inviting those in spirit to join the ceremony, as well as grieving their loss in this world.
In the Myall Creek ceremonies, spirituality is integrated in a number of ways. The rituals begin with
prayers, and as participants arrive at the hill overlooking the massacre site, they walk through the smoke
of burning gum leaves, a traditional Aboriginal cleansing ceremony. They may also paint their foreheads
with ashes, a spiritual tradition of significance to Christian participants. At the stone memorial, Aborigi-
nal elders supervise the calling in of ancestors, as they did in 2006 when Sue Blacklock, descendant of
Aboriginal survivors of the massacre, stated, “the bullroarer will be heard, informing spirits of the dead
that we have come to perform the ceremony, and calling everyone to be respectfully quiet” (Blacklock,
personal communication, June 10, 2006).
The Brisbane ceremonies for the Stolen Generations also integrate Aboriginal and Western spiritual-
ity, through prayer, traditional dance, and music. The ochre paintings on the bodies of the Aboriginal
dancers represent the law from the Dreaming. Aboriginal ancestors who died before any reconciliation
or social justice initiatives were initiated are evoked through prayer, or calling them in, and at times
through inclusion of their images in the ceremonies (Walker, 2011).

311
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Interconnectedness

These four recurring ceremonies celebrate and renew connections between Indigenous peoples, Place,
and between Indigenous and settler descended peoples.
At the Two Rivers Powwow, new relationships of respect and reciprocity are acknowledged and
celebrated by participants in the ceremonies. Whereas in the past, enmity and opposition had marked
relationships between Methow people and settlers, participants in the ceremonies now speak of new
kinds of relatedness. Stephen Iukes, of the Colville reservation commented on the importance of these
new relationships.

We are making a way for the two sides to understand each other. Indian blood has been spilled here for
years, before any of us ever came here. Thank you for how you have treated us here. We don’t get treated
that way other places we go. (Iukes, as cited in Stamper, 2005)

Some of the new relationships are formalized. For example, some settler descendants involved in
these peace processes have been formally adopted into the Methow nation.
In the Myall Creek Memorials, settler descendants, immigrants and Aboriginal Australians acknowl-
edge their intent to redress historical and contemporary injustices,

Together we will work to end the injustices and prejudices which continue to sideline Indigenous people.
We will learn and teach the paths of justice, respect and reconciliation so that we may walk together
down this road. (Myall Creek Massacre Memorial Program, p. 4)

John (personal communication, July 20, 2007), one of the founders of the memorials explains that
simple aspects of the ceremonies create and sustain new relational networks, for example meeting new
people and spending the day together engaging in meaningful activities. The ceremonies have also disrupted
taken-for-granted dynamics between Aboriginal and Settler Australians, and created new relationships of
respect. Des Blake, descendant of one of the perpetrators of the massacre describes the first memorial,
which was attended by over 2,500 Aboriginal and Settler people. The final ritual of the memorial is a
shared meal, and Blake explains that at the first gathering both Settler and Aboriginal people sat down
to eat together; they did not look to sit with others they knew or who were from their cultural group, a
situation which had never been experienced by most of the participants. Blake also comments that at
every memorial since, the dynamic has remained the same, bringing people together across differences
in ways that are markedly significant (Blake, personal communication, July 11, 2006).
Other kinds of interrelatedness have been instigated and formalized through the Myall Creek Mas-
sacre Memorials. Sue Blacklock, a member of the Wirrayaraay people, has adopted Beulah Adams, a
descendant of perpetrators, who initially was reluctant to come forward with fear of how she would be
received by participants at the memorial. However, after she apologized on behalf of her ancestors and
became a participant in the memorials, Beulah was invited to become Sue’s sister (Adams, personal
communication, July 12, 2006).

312

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Restoration of Harmony and Balance

Restoring balance and harmony in these intractable conflicts is challenging, in part because harmony
and balance may never before have been characteristics of relationships between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous peoples in these settings. Nevertheless, those involved in these ceremonies have effected
significant measures of restorative and symbolic justice.
Through the rituals leading up to and during the Two Rivers Powwows, and the justice initiatives that
have grown out of them, some measures of harmony and balance have been restored to the relationships
between the Methow people, their traditional lands and settler-descended people in the Valley. For ex-
ample, prior to their removal from the Twisp Valley, the Methow peoples gathered roots in a ceremonial
manner, which was a central aspect of their culture. For the Methow, wild carrot, kush-kush, bitterroot,
and camas root are plant relatives that have sustained them over thousands of years. Respectful engage-
ment with these relations requires harvesting them ceremonially, in alignment with traditional values
and teachings. However, since removal the Methow people have not been welcome when they return to
gather these roots. They share stories of being chased away at gunpoint when they attempted to harvest
roots at the side of public roads. In redressing this ongoing injustice, some landowners in the valley have
created formal legal agreements that allow the Methow people to access their land without interference,
so that they may practice ceremonial harvesting (Walker, 2011). Roots gathered in this way feature in
the communal meals at the Twisp Powwow in which Methow peoples and settlers living in the valley
sit together and share the bounty of the valley.
The Fort Vancouver Nez Perce Memorial has restored balance and harmony to a particularly important
connection that was severed in the war of 1877. At the end of that war, the United States Army killed
over 6,000 Nez Perce horses, in order to prevent the Nez Perce from continuing to be a powerful force in
resisting United States governance. To the US Army, this action represented an attack on the opponent’s
military resources. To the Nez Perce, who regarded the horses as relatives, this loss was personal, painful,
and of great significance in that the younger generations lost touch with ‘the way of the horse,’ a lived
relationship of reciprocity and respect (Horace & Wilfried Scott, personal communication, March 13,
2008). The reintegration of the horse into the Nez Perce Memorial ceremonies also involved the horses’
reintegration into the lives of young people in Nez Perce communities, and the Great Horse Nation is
once again an honored and vital part of the lives of their people.
The restoration of balance and harmony through the Myall Creek Memorial Ceremonies has occurred
in part through what might be called ‘restoring health to wounded places’ (Walker, 2011, p. 245). Prior
to the memorial ceremonies, the massacre site had been taboo for Aboriginal people who would not
stop there even though they were traveling nearby. However, Brown (personal communication, July 20,
2007) explains that after memorial ceremonies, Aboriginal people now feel comfortable visiting the
site, because “truth has been told and it has reclaimed” this space. The Myall Creek Massacre Memorial
site has become a place of safety for Aboriginal people and some of them have requested and received
permission to rebury ancestral remains that have been repatriated from museums in the United King-
dom, another way of restoring some measures of balance and harmony to Aboriginal Australian peoples
(Brown, personal communication July 20, 2007).
Measures of symbolic justice can restore balance and harmony to relationships that have been marked
by prejudice and exclusion. In one of the original Brisbane ceremonies for the Stolen Generations, then
Lord Mayor Jim Soorley gave the keys to the city to a group of Aboriginal elders gathered in King George
Square, in the heart of the city. This ceremony restored a place of belonging and respect, designed to

313
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

redress historical imbalances. The Police Towns act of 1839 had required Aboriginal people to be outside
the city center after 4 pm Monday through Saturday and no Aboriginal people were allowed into the
city on Sundays. This policy was brutally enforced by troopers riding the perimeter on horseback, using
stock-whips as weapons (Condon, 2010). In contrast to this exclusionary policy that brought shame and
fear to many Aboriginal people, the Mayor’s apology and actions restored formal acknowledgement of
the rights of Aboriginal people to be present in the city at all times. Although these measures may seem
small in relation to the injustices endured by Aboriginal people, they are markers of new, more equitable
relational spaces from which both Indigenous and settler/immigrant people can work together for fuller
measures of justice.

FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

As described previously in the chapter, there are many colonial injustices that still need to be addressed
because they continue to adversely affect Indigenous peoples. Indigenous ceremonial peacemaking
processes have demonstrated effectiveness in redressing historic and contemporary conflict. Ceremo-
nies discussed in this chapter demonstrate restorative and symbolic justice, as well as strengthening
relationships of mutuality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Conflict transformation
recommendations arising out of the ceremonial processes explored in this chapter are:

• Support and engage peacemaking initiatives that re-center Indigenous peoples, their knowledge
systems, and their approaches to peace.
• Enhance participatory Indigenist research on the role of Indigenous peacemaking processes in
transforming conflict in colonized countries.
• Create collaborations of integrity, relationally based partnerships that engage in interparadigmatic
peace processes.
• Explore ways in which Indigenous peacemaking might inform the wider fields of conflict resolu-
tion and peacebuilding, and do so in ways that are neither extractive nor appropriative.

Other scholars support recentering Indigenous peacemaking processes in ways that disrupt colonial
dynamics. Gregory Cajete, (2000) the author of Native Science, maintains that ‘what all of us need at
this time is a mutually beneficial bridge and dialogue between Indigenous and Western scientists and
communities” (p. 7). Stewart-Harawira states that “…recentering Indigenous teachings and spirituality
at the heart of our diplomacies” is crucial at this time of crisis. Beier (2009) points out the importance
of a ‘sustained reciprocal engagement’ with Indigenous peoples in exploring ethical and meaningful
engagement with Indigenous peace processes:

Here, the independent ontological significance of Indigenous voice is affirmed in an ethical basis of
responsibility as being to rather than for Indigenous peoples…this moves from appropriation to conver-
sation: that is sustained reciprocal engagement. (p. 26)

Beier (2009) also argues that respectful engagement requires disrupting the conceptual frameworks
of Western diplomacies. These processes require collaborations of integrity that recenter Indigenous
approaches to peace.

314

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

CONCLUSION

Indigenous approaches to peace are needed to build sustainable peace in colonized countries. However,
they are seldom engaged as rigorous and meaningful processes that are considered relevant to contem-
porary conflict. This chapter has argued for engaging with Indigenous peacemaking processes through
collaborations of integrity that recenter Indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems. These pro-
cesses may also inform the fields of conflict resolution and peacebuilding in a wider sense. Indigenous
philosophies rooted in Place, interrelatedness, spirituality, and balance and harmony have something to
offer a world shaped by polarization and intractable conflict.
These are not new ideas. For centuries Indigenous peoples have engaged processes and systems that
support sustainable peace across difference. For example, the focus of the Deganawidah Epic was the
creation of a multicultural community of all nations who would join the Confederacy and shelter under
the Tree of Great Peace (Williams, 1994, p. 1005). Williams (1994) further explains

…the central message of the Iroquois vision of law and peace: through frequent dialogue, sharing, recip-
rocal exchanges of gifts and goodwill, and the mutualisation of interests and resources, different peoples
could attain ‘one mind’ and ‘link arms together’ under the Tree of Great Peace. (Williams, p. 1021)

The wider field of peacebuilding might be enhanced by engaging with the relatively unexplored
peacebuilding potential of Indigenous approaches to peace. This cannot occur through isolated academic
research, but must be based on collaborations of integrity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples
seeking to transform contemporary conflicts. We catch a glimpse of this potential in the restorative justice
and reconciliation that is taking place through the Myall Creek Massacre Memorial, ceremonies for the
Stolen Generations, the Twisp Powwow and the Nez Perce Memorial at Fort Vancouver. Grandfather
Leon Secatero (personal communication, 2001), of the Cañoncito Band of Navajo, speaks of the time
of the ‘five fingered ones,’ a period of opportunity for Indigenous and setter peoples to work together,
integrating their knowledge systems in ways that bring balance and harmony. This possibility lives on, in
spite of centuries of colonialism, an invitation to redress the violence of colonialism and to build peace.

REFERENCES

Alfred, T. (2009). Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto (2nd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario:
Oxford University Press.
Altman, H. M., & Belt, T. N. (2009). Tõhi: the Cherokee Concept of Well-Being. In L. J. Lefler & S.
L. Fox (Eds.), Under the Rattlesnake: Cherokee Health and Resiliency (pp. 9–22). Tuscaloosa, AL: The
University of Alabama Press.
Awiakta, M. (1993). Selu, Seeking the Corn-Mother’s Wisdom. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
Awiakta, M. (1997). Amazons in Appalachia. In J. Harjo & G. Bird (Eds.), Reinventing the Enemy’s
Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writings of North America (pp. 469–478). New York: W.W.
Norton & Co.

315
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Bagshaw, D. (2009). Challenging Western constructs of mediation. In D. Bagshaw & E. Porter (Eds.),
Mediation in the Asia-Pacific Region: Transforming conflicts and building peace (pp. 13–30). New
York: Routledge.
Basso, K. H. (1996). Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache.
Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Beattie, S. (1997). Is Mediation a Real Alternative to Law? Pitfalls for Aboriginal Participants. Australian
Dispute Resolution Journal, 8(1), 57–69.
Behrendt, L. (1995). Aboriginal Dispute Resolution. Sydney: The Federation Press.
Beier, J. M. (2009). Indigenous Diplomacies as Indigenous Diplomacies. In J. M. Beier (Ed.), Indigenous
Diplomacies (pp. 11–28). New York: Palgrave McMillan. doi:10.1057/9780230102279_2
Bluehouse, P., & Zion, J. W. (1993). ‘Hozhooji Naat’aanii: The Navajo Justice and Harmony Ceremony.
Mediation Quarterly, 10(4), 327–337. doi:10.1002/crq.3900100403
Boggs, S. T., & Chun, M. (1990). Ho’oponopono. In K. A. Watson-Gegeo & G. M. White (Eds.), Dis-
entangling: Conflict Discourse in Pacific Societies. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Brigg, M., & Walker, P. O. (2015). Indigeneity and Peace. In O. Richmond, S. Pogodda & J. Ramović
(Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Disciplinary and Regional approaches to Peace (pp. 259-271). New
York: Palgrave McMillan.
Cajete, G. (2000). Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers.
Condon, M. (2010, Oct. 7). Street Names a Reminder of our Racist Past and they should go. The Courier
Mail.
De Costa, R. (2009). Indigenous Diplomacies Before the Nation-State. In J. M. Beier (Ed.), Indigenous
Diplomacies (pp. 79–96). New York: Palgrave McMillan. doi:10.1057/9780230102279_5
Driver, F. (1991). Magic of Ritual: Our Need for Liberating Rites That Transform Our Lives and Our
Communities. New York, NY: Harper San Francisco.
Garrett, M. (1998). Walking on the Wind. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co.
Graham, M., Brigg, M., & Walker, P. (2010). Conflict Murri Way: Managing Conflict through Place
and Relatedness. In R. Bleiker & M. Brigg (Eds.), Mediating Across Difference: Oceanic and Asian
Approaches to Conflict Resolution (pp. 75–99). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Great Law of Peace. (1999). Retrieved from: http://sixnations.buffnet.net/Great_Law_of_Peace/
Grose, P. R. (1995). An Indigenous Imperative: The Rationale for the Recognition of Aboriginal Dispute
Resolution Mechanisms. Mediation Quarterly, 12(4), 327–338. doi:10.1002/crq.3900120406
Huber, M. (1993). ‘Mediation Around the Medicine Wheel. Mediation Quarterly, 10(4), 355–365.
doi:10.1002/crq.3900100405
LeBaron, M. (2003). Bridging Cultural Conflicts: A New Approach for a Changing World. San Fran-
cisco: Jossey-Bass.

316

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Lederarch, J. P. (2005). The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press. doi:10.1093/0195174542.001.0001
Meyer, M. A. (2008). Indigenous and Authentic: Hawaiian Epistemology and the Triangulation of
Meaning. In N. K. Denzin, Y. S. Lincoln, & L. T. Smith (Eds.), Handbook of Critical and Indigenous
Methodologies (pp. 217–232). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. doi:10.4135/9781483385686.n11
Mitchell, R. (Producer & Director). (2005). Two Rivers Powwow [motion picture] USA: Greenleaf Street
Productions.
Myall Creek Memorial Program. (2006). Myall Creek Memorial Annual Service of Commemoration.
Neilsen, M. O., & Zion, J. W. (2005). Introduction to Peacemaking. In Navajo Nation Peacemaking:
Living Traditional Justice (pp. 3–22). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
Parisi, L., & Corntassel, J. (2009). A Revolution within a Revolution. In J. M. Beier (Ed.), Indigenous
Diplomacies (pp. 79–96). New York: Palgrave McMillan. doi:10.1057/9780230102279_6
Peat, F. D. (1994). Blackfoot Physics: A Journey into the Native American Universe. London: Fourth
Estate Ltd.
Reid, J. P. (1976). A Better Kind of Hatchet: Law, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Cherokee Nation during
the Early Years of European Contact. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Schirch, L. (2005). Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
Shannon, T. J. (2008). Iroquois Diplomacy On The Early American Frontier. London: Viking.
Shook, E. V., & Kwan, L. K. (1987). Straightening Relationships and Settling Disputes in Hawai’i:
Ho’oponopono and Mediation. University of Hawai’i Program on Conflict Resolution, Occasional Paper
Series, 1987, 10.
Stamper, M. (2006, Aug. 17). Getting to the Heart of the Methow. Methow Valley News.
Stanner, W. E. H. (1979). White Man Got No Dreaming: Essay, 1930-1973. Canberra: Australian Na-
tional University Press.
Stewart-Harawira, M. (2009). Responding to a Deeply Bifurcated World: Indigenous Diplomacies in the
Twenty-First Century. In J. M. Beier (Ed.), Indigenous Diplomacies (pp. 207–233). New York: Palgrave
McMillan. doi:10.1057/9780230102279_13
Tonkinson, M. (1987). Mardujarra Kinship. In H. McRae, G. Nettheim, & L. Beacroft (Eds.), Indigenous
Legal Issues (2nd ed.; pp. 82–87). North Ryde: LBC Information Services.
Tso, T. (2005). The Process of Decision Making in Tribal Courts: A Navajo Jurist’s Perspective. In M.
O. Nielsen & J. W. Zion (Eds.), Navajo Nation Peacemaking: Living Traditional Justice (pp. 29–41).
Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.
Walker, P. (2004). Decolonizing Conflict Resolution: Addressing the Ontological Violence of Western-
ization. American Indian Quarterly, 28(3&4), 527–549. doi:10.1353/aiq.2004.0108

317
 
Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

Walker, P. (2011). Creating a New Story: Ritual, Ceremony and Conflict Transformation between Indig-
enous and Settler Peoples. In C. Cohen, R. Varea, & P. Walker (Eds.), Acting Together Performance and
the Creative Transformation of Conflict: Vol. I. Resistance and Reconciliation in Regions of Violence
(pp. 224-251). San Francisco: New Village Press.
Wilbur, J. R., Wilbur, M., Garrett, M. T., & Yuhas, M. (2001). Talking Circles: Listen, or Your Tongue Will
Make You Deaf. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 26(4), 368–384. doi:10.1080/01933920108413785
Williams, R. A. (1994). Linking Arms Together: Multicultural Constitutionalism in a North American
Indigenous Vision of Law and Peace. California Law Review, 82(4), 981–1049. doi:10.2307/3480938
Yazzie, R. (1995). Traditional Navajo Dispute Resolution in the Navajo Peacemaker Court. NIDR FO-
RUM, Spring.
Yazzie, R. (2005a). Introduction to Peacemaking. In M. O. Nielsen & J. W. Zion (Eds.), Navajo Nation
Peacemaking: Living Traditional Justice (pp. 3–22). Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.
Yazzie, R. (2005b). Life Comes From It: Navajo Justice Concepts. In M. O. Nielsen & J. W. Zion (Eds.),
Navajo Nation Peacemaking: Living Traditional Justice (pp. 42–60). Tucson, AZ: The University of
Arizona Press.
Zion, J. W. (2005). The Dynamics of Navajo Peacemaking: Social Psychology of an American Indian
Method of Dispute Resolution. In Navajo Nation Peacemaking: Living Traditional Justice (pp. 85-99).
Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Balance and Harmony: Indigenous concepts of the balancing of all aspects of the cosmos in order
to be at peace.
Indigenous Diplomacies: Indigenous processes of engaging with other Indigenous or non-Indigenous
nations or peoples. These processes integrate the natural world and the spirit world and revitalize respect
and reciprocity among all of these entities, human and more-than-human.
Indigenous Peoples: Original peoples who preceded colonization and who live in relationship and
reciprocity with place and original peoples’ communities.
Indigenous Ritual and Ceremony: Processes that are place-based, in relationship with the natural
world, which draw together past, present, and future into a space in which personal and collective trans-
formations occur. The focus is on balance and harmony among a vast network of relationships.
Indigenous Spirituality: First peoples’ relationships with ancestors, beings to come, and the natural
world, all aspects of which are considered to be alive and animated with spirit.
Interrelatedness: Acknowledgement of, and respect for relationships with place, the natural world,
the spirit world, and all human beings.
Place-Based: Indigenous relationships with law, knowledge, and wisdom arise from place and are
revitalized through relationships of respect and reciprocity with specific sites.

318

Indigenous Ceremonial Peacemaking

ENDNOTES
1
Collaborations of Integrity is a term coined by the Indigenous Education Institute, of which the
author is chair, and refers to processes engaging Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in projects
that re-center Indigenous ways of knowing.
2
Indigenous scholars and knowledge holders tend to use the term ceremony to refer to processes set
apart for holistic engagement that marks significant transitions in the lives of the participants. In
contrast, Western scholars tend to use the term ritual.
3
Turtle Island is the name used by many Native American and First Nations peoples to refer to North
America.
4
Here the author notes the names members of these nations prefer. However, in most literature, the
more common names, listed in parenthesis, predominate and to avoid confusion the author uses
the more common names in this chapter.
5
Place is capitalized based on the scholarship and knowledge of Kombumerri senior woman Mary
Graham who hold knowledge on The Dreaming and the mutually constitutive relationship of
Country and humans.

319