Robert Yazzie grew up in a traditional area of the Navajo Nation and attended Oberlin College in Ohio. Following his graduation from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1982, he practiced law in the Navajo Nation courts, acted as a Navajo-English interpreter in US District Court, and served as a consultant to law firms. After seven years as presiding judge of the district court in Window Rock, Arizona, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Navajo Nation in 1992. That is, judges sit at the top presiding over the lawyers, jurors, and all participants in court proceedings. The justice system uses rank, and the coercive power that goes with rank or status, to address conflicts.
Power is the active element in the process.
A decision is dictated from on high by the judge, and that decision is an order or judgment which parties must obey or face a penalty. Parties to a dispute have limited power and control over the process. The goal of adversarial law is to punish wrongdoers and teach them a lesson. Navajo justice prefers a win-win solution. They are ignored, and the result is that no real justice is done.