Standing Bear = enemy combatant

Author compares Ponca Chief to Gitmo inmatesA new book about Standing Bear addresses the importance of habeas corpus in the Ponca chief’s historic court case. The case, Standing Bear v. Crook, legally established that “an Indian is a person.”

“This story resonates loud and clear in our world right now in 2009,” said Joe Starita, author of “I am a Man.” “Standing Bear had to be considered an enemy combatant of his time, and yet, as the enemy combatant of his time, he got access to the federal court through a writ of habeas corpus, something that the enemy combatant 130 years later can’t do.”

At a book signing Jan. 25, Starita said his book does not reference U.S. military action in the Middle East or the controversial prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. However, habeas corpus is as central to Standing Bear’s story as it is for many complaints against detainment of enemy combatants at Gitmo.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Defeating Apaches = Defeating Terrorists and America's Concentration Camps.