Year: 1940
Type: article
Abstract: Were there no injustice, men would -never have known the 'name of justice."Heraclitus.O UT of the long train of injustices committed by a conquering race there has developed the concern for justice that is so overwhelming a part of Indian character today.Those who would like to see Indians earning a living as happy American farmers are distressed that so many Indians should indulge in endless discussions about broken treaties or constitutional rights at a time when the application of equivalent energies to crops and livestock would bring larger productive returns.Some philanthropic souls are distressed to note that when an Indian receives a few dollars from the government he does not always accept the money humbly or shame-facedly, as a white man might accept a Salvation Army Thanksgiving basket, but often takes greater pride in winning a small sum from the United States Government than he would take in earning a larger sum by growing potatoes.Perhaps those who take this attitude towards the Indian fail to see how much of human dignity, in Indian eyes, may turn upon the willingness to stand up for one's rights, without regard to economic cost or gain.But whether one sympathizes with this aspect of contemporary Indian culture or dismisses it as uneconomic and neurotic, he cannot-help recognizing the fact that Indians are deeply concerned with the maintenance of justice and the defense of their legal rights.The train of injustices which the Indian has suffered has again and again led Indian champions of Indian rights to go before the federal courts to challenge as unlawful particular acts of oppression by federal and state officials as well as by private tThis article represents only my views, was written prior to my appointment as Chief of the Indian Law Survey of the Department of Justice and is in no way an expression of Departmental opinion.F. S. C.
Source: Minnesota law review
DOI: 10.24926/265535.2195
Author: Felix S. Cohen
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7138834974