medicine-wheel

community-review — RISE Specification

Community-based ceremonial review protocol — implements Wilson’s validation through Elder review circles, consensus-seeking, talking circle process, and relational accountability assessment.

Version: 0.1.0
Package: medicine-wheel-community-review
Document ID: rispec-community-review-v1
Last Updated: 2026-03-15

Desired Outcome

Users create community-validated knowledge systems where:

Creative Intent

What this enables: Software teams and research communities move through ceremonial review processes where validation comes from community consensus rather than individual peer review. Every artifact—research, ceremony, knowledge, code, or narrative—receives community attention proportional to its relational significance.

Structural Tension: Between Western peer review (expert judgment, anonymous critique, individual authority) and Indigenous community review (collective wisdom, named voices, Elder blessing, directional perspectives). The community-review package resolves this by implementing talking circles, Elder validation, and consensus-seeking as first-class review primitives.

Review Circle Lifecycle

gathering → reviewing → deliberating → decided
Status Focus Who Acts
gathering Assembling the circle — adding reviewers with roles and directions Circle initiator
reviewing Talking circle active — voices being heard All reviewers
deliberating Elder validation requested — wisdom being sought Elder validator
decided Outcome determined — blessing or guidance given Circle as whole

Type Definitions

Core Types

type PersonRole = 'steward' | 'contributor' | 'elder' | 'firekeeper' | 'community-member' | 'youth';
type ArtifactType = 'research' | 'ceremony' | 'knowledge' | 'code' | 'narrative';
type ReviewCircleStatus = 'gathering' | 'reviewing' | 'deliberating' | 'decided';
type ReviewOutcomeType = 'approved-with-blessings' | 'deepen-required' | 'return-to-circle' | 'ceremonial-hold' | 'withdrawn';

ReviewCircle

interface ReviewCircle {
  id: string;
  artifactId: string;
  artifactType: ArtifactType;
  reviewers: Reviewer[];
  elderValidator?: string;
  status: ReviewCircleStatus;
  outcome?: ReviewOutcome;
  talkingCircleLog: TalkingCircleEntry[];
  wilsonAlignment: number;       // 0–1
  ocapCompliant: boolean;
  createdAt: string;
}

Reviewer

interface Reviewer {
  id: string;
  role: PersonRole;
  direction?: DirectionName;     // Perspective they bring
  voice?: string;                // Their review statement
  accountableTo: string[];       // Who they represent
}

ReviewOutcome

interface ReviewOutcome {
  type: ReviewOutcomeType;
  consensus: boolean;
  voices: TalkingCircleEntry[];
  wilsonCheck: {
    respectHonored: boolean;
    reciprocityPresent: boolean;
    responsibilityTaken: boolean;
  };
  elderBlessing?: string;
  conditions: string[];
  nextAction: string;
}

TalkingCircleEntry

interface TalkingCircleEntry {
  speakerId: string;
  role: PersonRole;
  direction?: DirectionName;
  voice: string;
  timestamp: string;
  inResponseTo?: string;
}

Module: Circle Management

createReviewCircle(artifactId, artifactType)
// Creates a new circle in 'gathering' status

addReviewer(circle, reviewer)
// Adds a participant (only while 'gathering')

submitForReview(circle)
// Transitions to 'reviewing' (requires ≥1 reviewer)

closeCircle(circle, outcome)
// Finalizes with outcome, transitions to 'decided'

circleStatus(circle)
// Returns: { status, reviewerCount, hasElder, voicesHeard, outcomeType? }

Module: Elder Validation

requestElderValidation(circle, elderId)
// Sets elderValidator, transitions to 'deliberating'

elderGuidance(circle)
// Returns: { artifactType, voicesHeard, directionsRepresented, wilsonAlignment, suggestions[] }

elderBlessing(circle, elderId, blessing)
// Records Elder's blessing in the talking circle log

Module: Consensus & Talking Circle

seekConsensus(circle)
// Returns: { consensusReached, emergingOutcome, voiceCount, reviewerCount, allReviewersSpoken }

talkingCircle(circle, entry)
// Adds a voice to the talking circle (only during 'reviewing' or 'deliberating')

recordVoices(circle)
// Returns: { total, byDirection, byRole, unheardReviewers }

resolveDisagreement(circle, process)
// process: 'deeper-listening' | 'elder-mediation' | 'return-to-ceremony' | 'rest-and-return'
// Returns: { guidance, nextStatus, suggestedActions[] }

Module: Accountability

reviewerAccountability(reviewer)
// Returns: { reviewerId, role, accountableTo, direction?, accountabilityStatement }

reviewAgainstWilson(circle)
// Returns: { wilsonCheck, score, observations[] }

reviewAgainstOcap(circle)
// Returns: { compliant, issues[] }

relationalHealthReview(circle)
// Returns: { healthy, score, dimensions: { diversity, participation, accountability, elderPresence }, recommendations[] }

Module: Outcomes

approveWithBlessings(circle, blessing)
// Produces 'approved-with-blessings' outcome with Elder blessing

requestDeepening(circle, areas)
// Produces 'deepen-required' outcome with specific areas to deepen

returnToCircle(circle, reason)
// Produces 'return-to-circle' outcome with revision reason

ceremonialHold(circle, reason)
// Produces 'ceremonial-hold' outcome — ceremony needed before proceeding

Zod Validation Schemas

Every type has a corresponding Zod schema for runtime validation:

PersonRoleSchema, ArtifactTypeSchema, ReviewCircleStatusSchema, ReviewOutcomeTypeSchema
ReviewerSchema, TalkingCircleEntrySchema, WilsonCheckSchema
ReviewOutcomeSchema, ReviewCircleSchema

Dependencies

Wilson Alignment

Wilson describes research validation not through peer review but through community review:

Test Scenarios

  1. Full review lifecycle: Create circle → add reviewers → submit → talking circle → Elder validation → consensus → approve with blessings → close
  2. Disagreement resolution: Circle with conflicting voices → resolveDisagreement with each process type → verify guidance
  3. Wilson alignment check: Circle with incomplete perspectives → reviewAgainstWilson → verify low score and observations
  4. OCAP® compliance: Circle without steward → reviewAgainstOcap → verify issues reported
  5. Relational health: Circle with varied participation → relationalHealthReview → verify score and recommendations
  6. Status guards: Attempt to add reviewer to non-gathering circle → verify error thrown

Advancing Patterns

Quality Criteria

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