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Aboriginal Justice: A Haudenosaunee Approach.

Cousins, Michael
June 4, 2015

Source: (2005) In Wanda D. McCaslin, ed., Justice as Healing: Indigenous Ways. Writings on Community Peacemaking and Restorative Justice from the Native Law Centre. St. Paul, MN: Living Justice Press. Pp. 141-159.

“To fill this gap in understanding, I will discuss the Iroquoian worldview, the founding of the Great Law, how this framework regulates criminal behavior, and how it identifies offenses and sanctions.

“What I present here is based on traditional Haudenosaunee (Six Nations of the Grand River) oral teachings that have been given to me, combined with my study of the accounts of early European explorers, historians, and anthropologists. It may not be in complete agreement with other Haudenosaunee Nation or traditional understandings, since cultural variations do exist. I do not claim to speak for all Haudenosaunee Peoples or for an Aboriginal perspective in general.” (excerpt)

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