The research included both an empirical study of current practice and its meaning for battered women in the Navajo Nation and an examination of the theoretical possibilities of peacemaking practice both within the Navajo locale and elsewhere. Results indicated that the Peacemaking process may provide benefits for some battered women that are largely unavailable in formal adjudication. Peacemaking has the potential to disrupt social and familial supports for battering by addressing both systemic and personal-responsibility aspects of battering. In addition, Peacemaking may benefit some battered women through the use of traditional Navajo stories with gender antisubordination themes that may change the way in which the batterer and the batterer’s family understand battering. Peacemaking provides partial answers to three criticisms of informal adjudication. However, peacemaking practice presents significant coercion problems related both to forced participation in mediation and to coercive tactics used within processes. Findings suggest the need to address several central issues in developing and using informal adjudication processes. Footnotes