Every once in a while, someone
tells Chief Judge Michael
Petoskey that he or she doesn’t
believe in peacemaking courts.
Petoskey doesn’t get it.
“They don’t believe in wellness?”
asked Petoskey, who is
chief judge of the Grand Traverse
Band Tribal Court. “They don’t believe in healing? They
don’t believe in community harmony?
They don’t believe in reconciliation?”
Last week, about 80 local law
professionals, mediators and others
involved in the criminal justice
community gathered in the
courtroom of Washtenaw County
Trial Judge Timothy Connors to
spend the day learning about tribal
traditions and philosophy that
might be incorporated into Michigan
courts.
Washtenaw County has
received funding for a one-year
trial to determine whether a
peacemaking court will work
here.
Connors, who has a longtime
affinity for Native American culture,
told the crowd he had been
thinking about and praying for an
answer to the question: What
native philosophies could be
applied to state courts? He said if
he had to sum it up, it would be
this: the affirmation of the positive
rather than the punishment of
negative activity.
“And how we do that?” he
asked. “We live it, all of us, in
our communities.”
Friday’s program was one of
the educational opportunities provided
through the State Court
Administrative Office grant for
the Peacemaking Court Project.
The goal was to determine which,
if any, tribal traditions and practices
should be incorporated into
the state court system for resolving
disputes.
Connors said that he, too, has
confronted naysayers.
“I still don’t know why anyone
would be threatened by this,”
said Connors.
For six hours, the participants
learned about peacemaking,
Native American law and culture,
creating healthy communities and
the seven “grandfather teachings”
or love, respect, honesty, truth,
bravery, humility and wisdom,
the guiding principles for native
people.
Paul Raphael and JoAnne
Gasco, members of the Grand
Traverse Band of Ottawa, a member
of the Tribal Council at Grand
Traverse Band of Ottawa &
Chippewa Indians, presented an
overview of tribal peacemaking
traditions and practices.
Their tribal court has had a
peacemaking court for more than
20 years.
“This is our way, but we also
know that you in your own communities
and your own culture
have something very similar,”
said Gasco. “Hopefully today, by
listening, it’ll wake up something
in you.”
Washtenaw County Friend of
the Court Judah Garber said he
learned a lot about Native American
philosophy and noted that
many of the principles are reflected
locally in informal ways, especially
in family mediation.
“In domestic relationships, it’s
always our goal to help the parents
self-determine their family’s
direction as much as possible, and
this fits in well with that,” he
said.
Garber said he looks forward
to the next program in a few weeks.
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