Self-Responsibility: A traditional ethic
Once people get caught doing something wrong they lie, tear
down their accusers, try to bend the rules in their favor,
intimidate etc. Here is a remarkable story of Lakota who
did none of the above. He accepted his fate
"He ( the Indian) made no attempt to escape or to evade
justice. That the crime was committed in the depths of the
forest or at dead of night, witnessed by no human eye, made
no difference to his mind. He was thoroughly convinced that
all is known to the “Great Mystery,” and hence did not
hesitate to give himself up, to stand trial by the old and
wise men of the victim’s clan. His own family and clan
might by no means attempt to excuse or to defend him, but
his judges took all the known circumstances into
consideration, and if it appeared that he slew in
self-defense, or that the provocation was severe, he might
be set free after a thirty days’ period of mourning in
solitude. It is well remembered that Crow Dog, who killed
the Sioux chief, Spotted Tail, in 1881, calmly surrendered
himself and was tried and convicted by the courts in South
Dakota. After his conviction, he was permitted remarkable
liberty in prison, such as perhaps no white man has ever
enjoyed when under the sentence of death. The cause of his
act was a solemn commission received from his people,
nearly thirty years earlier, at the time that Spotted Tail
usurped the chieftainship by the aid of the military, whom
he had aided. Crow Dog was under a vow to slay the chief,
in case he ever betrayed or disgraced the name of the Brule
Sioux. There is no doubt that he had committed crimes both
public and private, having been guilty of misuse of office
as well as of gross offenses against morality; therefore
his death was not a matter of personal vengeance but of
just retribution. A few days before Crow Dog was to be
executed, he asked permission to visit his home and say
farewell to his wife and twin boys, then nine or ten years
old. Strange to say, the request was granted, and the
condemned man sent home under escort of the deputy sheriff,
who remained at the Indian agency, merely telling his
prisoner to report there on the following day. When his did
not appear at the time set, the sheriff dispatched the
Indian police after him. They did not find him, and his
wife simply said that Crow Dog had desired to ride alone to
the prison, and would reach there on the day appointed. All
doubt was removed next day by telegram from Rapid City, two
hundred miles distant, saying: “Crow Dog has just reported
here.” The incident drew public attention to the Indian
murderer, with the unexpected result that the case was
reopened, and Crow Dog acquitted. He still lives, a
well-preserved man of about seventy-five years, and is much
respected among his own people. "