Standing Bear
Standing Bear was a Ponca chief who became a symbol of Native American rights in the late 19th century. Following the U.S. government's forced removal of the Ponca people from their ancestral land along the Niobrara River in Nebraska, Standing Bear undertook a perilous journey to bury his son on traditional land. In 1879, along with sixty-six followers, he traveled to the Omaha Reservation, where he was detained by military authorities. This led to the landmark legal case, Standing Bear v. Crook, which challenged the notion that Native Americans were not afforded the same legal rights as other citizens. Judge E. S. Dundy ruled that Standing Bear and his people were indeed "persons" under U.S. law, emphasizing their shared humanity. Standing Bear’s poignant declaration during the trial highlighted the plea for dignity, freedom, and the right to their land. Following the trial, Standing Bear toured the Eastern United States to advocate for justice and nonviolent resistance, bringing attention to the struggles faced by Native peoples. Although the government eventually allocated funds to the Ponca, they were never permitted to return to their original homeland.
Standing Bear
- Born: c. 1829
- Birthplace: Unknown
- Died: September 1, 1908
- Place of death: On Niobrara River, Nebraska
Category: Chief
Tribal affiliation: Ponca
Significance: The civil rights case Standing Bear v. Crook rendered the decision that an Indian was a person within the meaning of U.S. law
An 1858 treaty guaranteed the Ponca people a permanent home on the land of their ancestral Niobrara River in Nebraska. An 1868 treaty, however, established boundaries for the Sioux that included the Ponca land. In 1875, the government agreed to rectify the error, but instead of returning the land, they appropriated money to compensate for the Sioux attacks and removed the Ponca to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). In 1879, Standing Bear and some thirty followers walked forty days to traverse the five hundred miles to the Omaha (Nebraska) Reservation. General George Crook and his garrison returned the Ponca people to Oklahoma. The return journey of fifty days and the following year on the Quapaw Reservation claimed the lives of nearly a fourth of the five hundred Poncas. Among the dead were Standing Bear’s children. In January of 1879, desiring to bury his son on traditional Ponca land, Standing Bear and sixty-six followers set out for the Niobrara. When Standing Bear reached the Omaha Reservation, he was placed under guard by Crook, who was to return the Ponca to Indian Territory. Several attorneys, members of the public, and newspaper correspondent Thomas H. Tibbles protested the treatment of the Ponca people.
Attorneys A. J. Poppleton and John L. Webster served Crook with a writ of habeas corpus to determine by what authority he was holding the group. The U.S. attorney countered that the Indian peoples had no right to habeas corpus because they were not “persons within the meaning of the law.” On April 18, 1879, Judge E. S. Dundy rendered the famous decision in the Standing Bear v. Crook case: An Indian was a person within the meaning of the law of the United States, and no authority existed for removing any of the prisoners to Indian Territory during time of peace. Standing Bear’s speech climaxed the trial: “My hand is not the same color as yours, but if you pierce it, I shall feel the pain. The blood will be the same color. We are men, the same God made us. . . . All I ask is what is mine—my land, my freedom, my dignity as a man.” To prevent other tribal peoples from using the decision as precedent to leave other reservations, the commissioner of Indian affairs ruled that Dundy’s decision applied only to Standing Bear and his people.
In the winter of 1879-1880, Standing Bear toured the East with correspondent Tibbles and interpreters Francis La Flesche and Susette La Flesche. His message was one of nonviolent resistance and justice. Although the government finally appropriated funds to the Ponca people, those in Indian Territory were never allowed to return to the Niobrara.