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Court Legacy 8/00 THE COURT Legacy The Historical Society for the United States District Court Vol. VIII, No. 1 for the Eastern District of Michigan ©2000 September, 2000 The Additional Court of Street voiced his opinions about Doty and the prospect of facing a Métis jury when he wrote Michigan Territory, 1823-1836 that he had “no prospect of a fair trial before the By Dr. Patrick J. Jung presiding judge . and little hope that an impartial jury can be promised at this place” since it was This is the second of a two-part article on the Additional composed of “ignorant Canadian French and mixed Court. In this issue Dr. Jung discusses some of the early breed Indians, not one in 20 of whom can read or cases, the unique circumstances encountered by the court write.” Not surprisingly, the jury decided in and the ability of Judge Doty to establish justice under Brunet’s favor. this new system of law. In the end, Street and Kearney lost nothing, for In the first part of this article I discussed the Congress voted to reimburse them. A similar establishment of the additional Court and its effect outcome occurred that same year when an American on the affairs of the territory. Judge Doty was trader named Daniel Whitney had his lumber camp instrumental in bringing balance to legal affairs that destroyed by troops from Fort Winnebago at the had been dominated by autocratic army officers and portage of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Whitney Indian agents. In fact, one of the first cases heard by sued Street and the Fort Winnebago commander, Judge Doty and discussed in the last issue involved Major David E. Twiggs, but he dropped his suit due the prosecution of an army officer for assaulting and to a lack of evidence. Twiggs brought a criminal case imprisoning a trader near the garrison at Green Bay. against Whitney for trespassing on Indian lands, and, not surprisingly, he initiated it in the Supreme Court Early Cases of Michigan Territory, where he believed the judges would be more sympathetic. However, Twigg’s case Army officers and Indian agents in other parts of was riddled with legal weaknesses, and it was Doty’s jurisdiction suffered similar fates. A Métis withdrawn by the prosecuting attorney in Detroit. trader named Jean Brunet led a logging expedition to the upper Mississippi River in 1829. The Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts agent at Prairie du Chien, Joseph Street, heard of Brunet’s activities and requested Major Stephen In the end, juries found several Indian agents and Watts Kearney, the commander of nearby Fort army officers guilty of violating the rights of fur Crawford, to arrest Brunet and his party for traders, but their allies in Detroit and Washington trespassing on lands that still belonged to the Indians, consistently reimbursed them or rescinded their a clear violation of the trade and intercourse laws. fines. Nevertheless, the possibility of being sued Brunet brought charges against Street and Kearney and arraigned on criminal charges struck a chord for false imprisonment and initiated a civil suit to of fear in the hearts of federal officials. Arbitrary recover two thousand dollars in damages. Kearney justice quickly began to disappear in the area under and Street argued that Brunet had not yet been given the Additional Court’s jurisdiction, and by 1830 American citizenship, and for this reason, he had such incidents had almost ceased to exist. For no right to enter the Indian country. With predictable this reason, all of the inhabitants west of Lake deftness, Doty countered by stating that the Michigan, whether they were Indians, Métis, or Mississippi River was a public highway open to all, newly-arrived Americans, saw the court as the and that Brunet had as much right as anyone to use it. principal foil against arbitrary justice. These cases, like so many The Historical Society for the United States others in the Additional District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Court, originated out of the trade and intercourse Established in 1992 acts. These laws also BOARD OF TRUSTEES brought Indians under President the aegis of federal and I.W. Winsten territorial law in Vice President particular instances, John H. Dise, Jr. especially crimes Secretary-Treasurer between Indians and Jeffrey A. Sadowski whites. Legal matters A sketch of an Ojibwa warrior dressed in the same Joseph Aviv between Indians were not covered, but such manner as those who Hon. Avern Cohn appeared in the Additional Hon. John Feikens cases were occasionally Court of Michigan Territory. Alan C. Harnisch brought before the court. From George Catlin, Letters Michael J. Lavoie and Notes on the Manners, A case in 1823 involved Customs, and Condition of Michael C. Leibson an Ojibwa Indian from the North American Indians Bonnie L. Mayfield Mackinac named (1841). Mrs. Dores M. McCree Hon. John Corbett O’Meara Mat-way-way-ge-shic Barbara J. Rom who had killed another Ojibwa named Aish-kuns. Hon. Donald A. Scheer Doty should not have let the case proceed since it Hon. Arthur J. Tarnow involved two Indians. The trade and intercourse laws Robert M. Vercruysee clearly stated that such crimes were not within the Sharon M. Woods court’s jurisdiction. However, Doty’s writings reveal that for many years, he had assumed that the trade Advisors Philip P. Mason and intercourse laws covered any crime by an Indian Judith K. Christie that had occurred on lands sold by the tribe to the United States. The murder occurred under such circumstances, and thus, Doty let the trial proceed. THE COURT LEGACY The trial would have been farcical had it not Published periodically by The Historical Society for involved a capital crime. All of the witnesses were the United States District Court for the Eastern District Indians, and the court-appointed attorney for Mat- of Michigan, Office of the Clerk, Theodore Levin United way-way-ge-shic argued that Indians were not States Courthouse, Detroit, MI 48226-2797. allowed to give testimony in court since they Subscriptions available through any Society membership. believed in neither the Christian God nor the Membership benefits include the Newsletter, voting Scriptures. The prosecution countered by stating that privileges, and the Annual Meeting. Hindus and Muslims did not profess Christianity, Papers are encouraged to be submitted to the Newsletter and they could give testimony in English courts. editor for publication consideration. Content for the issues Doty struck a balance by saying that he would allow are due 60 days prior. Mail items for publication to The the testimony of Indians in the case only if they Historical Society. believed in a higher power who would punish them The Court Legacy reserves copyright to authors of signed articles. Permission to reprint a signed article should be 1832 1833 obtained directly from the author and The Court Legacy should be acknowledged in the reprint. Unsigned German Poet Johann Wolfgang Oberlin College von Goethe finishes Faust, opens, the first material may be reprinted without permission provided and dies. During his lifetime, American college The Court Legacy is given credit. Goethe published 133 volumes to admit women on a variety of subjects, including and African 14 on science Americans Page 2 for lying. Doty did not admit the testimony of change the fact that federal statutes brought Indians two Indian witnesses because their answers were under the aegis of the law, but he consistently unsatisfactory. One woman, the wife of the deceased, expressed his sentiments by attempting to apply those gave testimony after she asserted that she believed in laws in as sparing a manner as possible. the Great Spirit, stood in fear of him, and believed he This was certainly the case when the leaders of the would send her to a “bad place” if she lied to the jury. 1827 Winnebago Uprising were tried for murder. The Despite her vivid testimony and the overwhelming uprising itself was a short-lived affair that resulted evidence that Mat-way-way-ge-shic had committed only in a few horrific murders of whites and Métis by the crime, the jury acquitted him. The details of this Winnebago tribal members in southwestern Wisconsin. case are sketchy, but it would seem that the jury, In the end, three Winnebago men were to be tried, but composed mostly of Métis jurors, believed that it was the leader of the uprising, Red Bird, died in jail while a matter for the Ojibwas to handle among themselves. awaiting trial. During the trial at Prairie du Chien In fact, the jurors did what Doty should have done in in 1828, it became evident that Red Bird’s two the first place, but the fact that he did not is indicative accomplices, The Sun and Little Buffalo, had not of the spartan conditions under which the judge and murdered anyone and had even tried to dissuade Red lawyers of the Additional Court labored. Doty, the Bird from committing the acts. However, white and prosecuting attorney, and Mat-way-way-ge-shic’s Métis inhabitants of the region had been shocked by the court-appointed counsel all believed that the court killings and had little interest in extending leniency to had jurisdiction in the matter due to the wording of the two men. The jury came back with a guilty verdict the 1802 Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. However, after deliberating only forty-five minutes, and Doty none of them were aware of the fact that a newer sentenced the men to hang. However, The Sun and federal law had been passed in 1817 that negated this Little Buffalo’s lawyer filed a motion to suspend their interpretation.
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