My Ponca Princess’s History

I wanted to blog more about the show on PBS called “Standing Bear’s Footsteps.” that I watched on Monday night.

Basically the government messed up big time and in 1868 accidentally included the Ponca land in a treaty to the Sioux Indians.  Since the Sioux population was so much bigger than the Ponca’s, the government forced the Poncas to leave.  They finally settled in Ponca City, OK which was desolate at the time, and I think the video said that 1/2 of the tribe died that winter.  Standing Bear’s 16 year old son was was about to die and requested that his father bury him back at their original land in Nebraska.

I’m not doing the story justice, so here’s some of what it says on wikipedia.com:

“When they reached at the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska, they were welcomed as relatives. Word of their arrival in Nebraska soon reached the government. Under orders from the Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz, who also directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Brigadier General George Crook had the Ponca arrested for having left the reservation in Indian Territory. The Army took Standing Bear and the others to Fort Omaha, where they were detained. Although the official orders were to return them immediately to Indian Territory, Crook was sympathetic to the Ponca and appalled to learn of the conditions they had left. He delayed their return so the Ponca could rest, regain their health, and seek legal redress.

Crook told the Ponca story to Thomas Tibbles, an editor of the Omaha Daily Herald, who publicized it widely. The attorney John L. Webster offered his services pro bono and was joined by Andrew J. Poppleton, chief attorney of the Union Pacific Railroad.

They aided Standing Bear, who in April 1879 sued for a writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court in Omaha, Nebraska. Acting as interpreter for Standing Bear was Susette LaFlesche, an accomplished and educated, bilingual Omaha of mixed-race background. The case is called United States ex rel. Standing Bear v. Crook. General Crook was named as the formal defendant because he was holding the Ponca under color of law.

Image Source

As the trial drew to a close, Judge Dundy announced that Chief Standing Bear would be allowed to make a speech in his own behalf. Raising his right hand, Standing Bear proceeded to speak. Among his words were, "[My] hand is not the color of yours, but if I prick it, the blood will flow, and I shall feel pain," said Standing Bear. "The blood is of the same color as yours. God made me, and I am a man."

On May 12, 1879, Judge Elmer S. Dundy ruled that "an Indian is a person" within the meaning of habeas corpus. He stated that the federal government had failed to show a basis under law for the Poncas' arrest and captivity.

It was a landmark case, recognizing that an Indian is a “person” under the law and entitled to its rights and protection. “The right of expatriation is a natural, inherent and inalienable right and extends to the Indian as well as to the more fortunate white race,” The judge concluded.”

Can you believe Standing Bear had to defend the fact that he was a PERSON in court?  It’s deplorable!  I thought this was a happy ending to the story, but it’s not. 

“Standing Bear paid a price for his victory.  To be as free as a white man, he and his small clan had cut themselves off from government support and from the rest of their tribe… it was illegal for him to go back to the Indian Territory and rejoin the other Ponca b/c he had disassociated himself from the tribe.  It was illegal for him to go back after what he had said in court.  And it also meant, according to the law, that he could not go back to the traditional home land…because that land was owned by the Lakota and he could be arrested as a trespasser.”

“Back in Indian Territory, his brother Big Snake had left the reservation to trade horses with his Cheyenne friends.  Standing Bear was free to go, but his brother was not.  Few realized that Judge Dundy’s decision applied only to those Indians who had given up their tribal status.  As a member of the Southern Ponca tribe, Big Snake had no rights under the 14th Amendment.”  He was shot between the eyes for trying to run away from being arrested for leaving the reservation!!!

“It was 1924 before Native Americans were granted citizenship in the United States.  In 1962 Congress terminated the Northern Ponca tribe.  For 30 years the Northern Ponca were a people without any tribal status at all.  Then in 1990 Congress restored the tribe.  To celebrate the Northern & Southern Ponca held a pow wow in Standing Bear country.”

This was back in 2006 when I was pregnant w/ Autumn

“What [Standing Bear] said is powerfully profound in the present, not just the past.”

I hope to teach Autumn more about her people as she gets older and can understand more.  I want her to know the sacrifices her ancestors made.  I want her to appreciate how good she has it living in today’s day and age.  I want her to educate others and champion their cause.  I want her to be proud to be a Ponca Princess.