From The Washington Post

Does an American Indian have a legal right to sue the government of the United States and ask for his freedom? Does the United States government consider American Indians human beings?

1879 – Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca, the first Native American in the United States to get a trial to argue for his rights, argued that Native Americans are “persons within the meaning of the law” and have the right of habeas corpus. 

Listen to the podcast (42:07), read the article and transcript: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2017/08/07/episode-2-of-the-constitutional-podcast-ancestry/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1a724042c446

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A Washington Post podcast, a narrative series about the revolutionary figures who shaped America's story.