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DATE: Wednesday,
December 5, 2024 PEACEMAKING TO HOST WINTER CONFERENCE The Peacemaking
Program will be hosting its 2nd Annual Peacemaking Winter
Conference on December 18-19, 2024, at the Navajo Nation Museum with the
theme of, “Prevention to Counter Social Trends.” The public is
invited to attend the annual conference and learn about traditional teachings
over two days. The conference will feature speakers sharing their knowledge
on culturally related topics including the story of the stars, string games,
male and female hogan, walking in beauty and working together. Most of the presenters
are peacemakers and staff from the Peacemaking Program or Judicial Branch. The conference
aims to change the mentality of how disputes can be resolved by showing how
traditional peacemaking is an alternative to the court system. It also
addresses the program’s purpose in the Navajo Nation Code of providing
education and training on Navajo culture and traditions to individuals,
organizations and communities. Dempsey Harvey,
Peacemaking Program Coordinator, noted that he sees a trend where people
often do not communicate with each other but pay more attention to technology,
are abusing alcohol and/or drugs, or are in conflict with
each other, which led to the development of the theme. The conference is a
way to engage people to listen to stories of traditional teachings and core
values and apply those teachings to daily life. “I can’t walk in
the dark and just ignore things. I observed and said I’m in the capacity and I
have a program where at least maybe one out of a hundred will see and notice
what we’re talking about and understand and change his or her ways,” Harvey
said. “Being a human being is significant and special.” The presentations
for the conference are about how each person is special and connected to the spiritual creation, Harvey said. He added that the
teachings should be shared with family members to instill them in young
children to be successful in a changing world. “Part of this is
to get our own people to feel good about themselves. It is empowering,”
Harvey said. The conference is
planned for the winter because some stories and teachings can only be told in
the winter. Last year was the
first conference and it was a huge success for the program, Harvey said. The
conference is part of the program’s continued plan for outreach and
prevention. Programs are
invited to set up resource booths during the conference. The agenda and registration forms are available on the Judicial Branch website at courts.navajo-nsn.gov. For more information, please contact (928) 871-6388. ### |
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