  We study the electronic structure of the recently discovered diluted magnetic
semiconductor Ga$_{1-x}$Cr$_{x}$N ($x$ = 0.01-0.10). A systematic study of the
changes in the $occupied$ and $unoccupied$ ligand (N) partial density of states
(DOS) of the host lattice is carried out using N 1$s$ soft x-ray emission and
absorption spectroscopy, respectively. X-ray absorption measurements confirm
the wurtzite N 2$p$ DOS and substitutional doping of Cr into Ga-sites. Coupled
changes in the $occupied$ and $unoccupied$ N 2$p$ character DOS of
Ga$_{1-x}$Cr$_{x}$N identify states responsible for ferromagnetism consistent
with band structure calculations.
