Crow Dog : Four Generations of Sioux Medicine Men (9780062200143) by Leonard C. Dog Read Free Book Online

and put a marble monument over that spot. A lot of Crow Dogs and Spotted Tails are buried up there, all crumbling in the earth together. And Spotted Tail’s big chief’s house, the one the whites had built for him, also crumbled into dust. Only the rocks and the mountains are forever.
    “Black Crow and some others went back and forth between the two families, trying to make peace. It was decided that Crow Dog would pay six hundred dollars in blood money to Spotted Tail’s relations and also give them many horses and blankets. Somehow Crow Dog’s people got the money together, and the thing was settled the old Indian way. But again the whites were not satisfied. The marshals came, arrested Crow Dog, and tookhim to Fort Niobrara. They took Black Crow, too, because he happened to be there. From Fort Niobrara they took Crow Dog to Deadwood to be tried. In court Crow Dog did not lie. He told them, ‘I’m the one who killed Spotted Tail.’ He spoke for himself with the help of a translator. His lawyer spoke for him too. They sentenced Crow Dog to be hanged and put him in jail pending appeal. He asked to see the judge. He said, ‘Judge, I’ve got to go back to my place. Prepare myself to die. I’ve got to have a giveaway, give away whatever things I own, my horses, wagons, chickens, things like that.’ The judge asked him, ‘If I let you go, how do I know you’ll come back?’ Crow Dog answered, ‘Because I’m telling you. I am Crow Dog.’
    “The judge let him go. Crow Dog had a big giveaway at his place. His wife made him a special buckskin outfit to be hanged in. Then the judge got cold feet. Maybe Crow Dog won’t come back. They sent a marshal to look for him. This man went to Crow Dog’s place and told him, ‘Chief, I’m going to take you in. You must come with me.’ Crow Dog said, ‘No. I promised to come back by myself.’ It was evening. The marshal said, ‘Tomorrow I’ll take you in.’ Before daybreak Crow Dog sneaked off. He had already given his team away but borrowed it back for going to be hanged. He took his wife along. He wore his special white, beaded, and fringed outfit. The two drove more than a hundred miles to Deadwood. When he got there his lawyer was all smiles. Word had come from the Supreme Court that when one Indian kills another on the reservation he won’t hang because the government has no jurisdiction. So Crow Dog was the first Indian ever to win a case before the Supreme Court. The judge told him, ‘Crow Dog, I congratulate you. You kept your word. You came here by yourself and now you and your wife can go back by yourselves. You’re free.’” Somebody translated it for him. That is how my father told it.
    This was a landmark case in Indian history. I still have a copy of that paper, “ex parte Crow Dog.” It reads: “The first district of South Dakota is without jurisdiction to find or try an indictmentfor murder committed by one Indian upon another in the Indian country, and a conviction and sentence upon such indictment are void and imprisonment thereon is illegal.”
    We still bring up this ruling to prove that federal courts and the FBI have no business on the reservation, but it’s no use. Federal law enforcement has been made legal—one-sidedly—on all Indian reservations for what they call the ten major crimes, leaving the tribal courts to handle only such things as drunk and disorderly, traffic tickets, or wife beating. The Crow Dog case is also racist. If Crow Dog had shot a white man he would have been hanged for sure. A saying among the wasichus was always “If a white man kills an Injun, that’s justifiable self-defense. If an Injun kills a white man, that’s murder. If an Injun kills an Injun, that’s one damn Injun less.”
    When Crow Dog got home he prayed with the sacred pipe. He asked the Great Spirit to forgive him for what he had done. Black Crow came again, riding on his horse, and built a sweat lodge at the same spot as before. Then Crow