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Often, the legal system of the United States is far less than perfect, with biases and prejudices influencing nearly all trials. It is visible to see that many of the same crimes are punished in incredibly different ways. The novels surrounding Native Americans seem to have the system represented in the same way, as unfair and almost evil. It is evident to see that the United States has destroyed and depreciated Native Americans and their culture, causing even greater conflict in courts and judicial systems.

The first trial, Abel’s in House Made of Dawn, is a trial of the murder of the ‘white man,’ an albino Native American by Abel. Indeed, Abel had killed the man without qualm, and had no regrets. The albino had taunted and jibed Abel previously, and Abel believed that he was inherently evil. Through his trial, the views of the white men are evident: he killed the man, so he should be held accountable. Father Olguin tries to weigh in, saying “…this man was moved to do what he did by an act of the imagination so compelling as to be inconceivable to us” (Momaday 90). The Native American culture would have accepted this view, as spirits and evil forces were constantly at act—perhaps the albino man was evil. But as the trial proceeds, the men “word by word by word… [disposed] of him in language, their language, and they were making a bad job of it” (Momaday 90). This trial, therefore, is influenced highly by Western values and the judicial views of Native Americans are ignored. Perhaps if the trial was on a tribal court, Abel would have been understood in his reasoning.

Love Medicine also touched on the subject of the courts system. Gerry Nanapush, after getting into a heated fight with a cowboy and injuring him, was put on trial....

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...ame severity. However, in this novel, the situation is flipped. The United States law respects the tribal treaties and the evidence supported, while the tribe trial convicts Ama of a crime against nature. This shows that the trial by the tribe was more understood, as the laws broken were ones carried throughout history by the Taiga people instead of the regulations and rules imposed by the government.

In conclusion, the United States government and the judicial system weighs heavily on the Native Americans. Their culture is not equal to ours, so their values and traditions may differ starkly than those of the Western world. However, with the judicial system, our values are imposed upon them, causing them to suffer. I am not condoning or condemning any of these crimes, but we must learn to respect and understand that two cultures mixing never produce smooth results.