The martyrdom of Collins Catch the Bear
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2020
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 146
ISBN-13: 9781609809676
Subjects: Trials, litigation; Lakota Indians; Legal status, laws; History; Treatment of Indians; Indians of North America; Government relations; Trials (Murder); Discrimination in criminal justice administration; Attitudes envers les Indiens d'Amérique; Histoire; Indiens d'Amérique; Relations avec l'État; Procès (Meurtre); Discrimination dans l'administration de la justice pénale
Description: The search for justice for a Lakota Sioux man wrongfully charged with murder, told here for the first time by his trial lawyer, Gerry Spence. This is the untold story of Collins Catch the Bear, a Lakota Sioux, who was wrongfully charged with the murder of a white man in 1982 at Russell Means's Yellow Thunder Camp, an AIM encampment in the Black Hills in South Dakota. Though Collins was innocent, he took the fall for the actual killer, a man placed in the camp with the intention of compromising the reputation of AIM. This story reveals the struggle of the American Indian people in their attempt to survive in a white world, on land that was stolen from them. We live with Collins and see the beauty that was his, but that was lost over the course of his short lifetime. Today justice still struggles to be heard, not only in this case but many like it in the American Indian nations.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.