Before our white brothers came to civilize us we had no…
““Before our white brothers came to civilize us we had no jails. Therefore we had no criminals. You can't have criminals without a jail. We had no locks or keys, and so we had no thieves. If a man was so poor that he had no horse, tipi or blanket, someone gave him these things. We were too uncivilized to set much value on personal belongings. We wanted to have things only in order to give them away. We had no money, and therefore a man's worth couldn't be measured by it. We had no written law, no attorneys or politicians, therefore we couldn't cheat. We really were in a bad way before the white men came, and I don't know how we managed to get along without these basic things which, we are told, are absolutely necessary to make a civilized society.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Traditional societies lacked prisons and thus had no criminals; material possessions were shared, and law was communal.
In simple terms: No prisons, no criminals; shared resources.
Key Takeaway
Recognize cultural differences in concepts of crime.
Themes
anthropology
history
social structure
Mood
thoughtful
reflective
Type
historical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- education
- policy
- cultural studies
- social work
Key Concepts
communal living
property concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do modern societies balance property and community?
- What can we learn from communal norms?
A Different Perspective
Idealizing the past can ignore hardships.