STANDING BEAR WAS ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO GO HOME – THEN HIS CASE FORCED A U.S. COURT TO DECIDE IF A NATIVE MAN WAS A “PERSON”

Standing Bear had won his freedom.

The National Park Service summarizes the ruling as recognizing Standing Bear and his band as persons under the law and as having the right, under the conditions addressed by the court, to sever their tribal relations and live outside the reservation structure.

The federal judiciary likewise treats the case as a landmark in Native civil rights and access to habeas corpus.

But this is exactly where later retellings often become inaccurate.

Standing Bear v.

Crook did not make every Native person a United States citizen.