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”
He did not begin the journey expecting law students to study his name.
He was responding to death.
His son’s wish linked burial to homeland.
That connection turned the federal restriction on movement into something more than an inconvenience.
To obey the government completely would have meant breaking an obligation Standing Bear regarded as more important.
The law tried to tell him where he must stay.