Newly

Dec 12, 2023

Chief Standing Bear forever stamp

NOTE: This is part 1 of a 2-part history of Chief Standing Bear, who is on the new postage stamp.

"I am a man." When Ponca Chief Standing Bear uttered those words in a packed courtroom after his milestone lawsuit in 1879, he proclaimed that a Native American is a person in accordance with the law and established an enduring legacy as an eloquent, beloved, civil rights champion for 14th Amendment rights for Native Americans throughout the United States.

Standing Bear's tenacity of spirit was recognized and celebrated by the United States Postal Service (USPS) during the unveiling of a new "Forever" stamp on Friday, May 12 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Designed by Postal Service Art Director Derry Noyes, the stamp highlights a portrait of the chief by African American illustrator Thomas Blackshear II that is based on a photograph taken in 1877, when Standing Bear was in Washington, D.C., as part of a delegation of Ponca chiefs seeking the right to return to their Nebraska homeland. The colorful regalia depicted on the stamp was based on contemporary accounts.

During the ceremony, which occurred 146 years after Standing Bear and approximately 700 Ponca tribe members were expelled from their homeland in northeast Nebraska and forced to walk about 600 miles to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, Anton G. Hajjar, vice-chairman of the USPS Board of Governors noted, "Although the United States was founded on the principle that ‘all men are created equal,’ it took our country far too long to recognize the humanity in many of its people – including the American Indians who lived in these lands for thousand of years. I hope this stamp will serve as a reminder of the lessons we’ve learned from Chief Standing Bear, and the brave Ponca people, especially here in the Cornhusker State."

Candace Schmidt, chairwoman of the Ponca Tribe in Nebraska, observed, "For so long people didn't know his story or the Ponca story – our own trail of tears. We are finally able to tell his story of perseverance and how we as a tribe are resilient." She considers the stamp to be a "symbol of the pride and perseverance for all of our members past, present, and future."

Judi M. gaiashkibos (NOTE: spelled without capitalization), the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs since 1995, noted that Standing Bear's struggle and triumph "is truly and necessarily an American story." She commented, "This stamp further etches his legacy in our national consciousness" and expressed her hope that issuing the stamp "provokes necessary conversations about race, sovereignty, and equality in the United States." She continued, "It's remarkable, that the story of Nebraska Native American civil rights leader Chief Standing Bear has progressed from a native man being considered a non-person by the U.S Government in 1879, to today, being recognized by the Postal Service with a stamp. We’re doing really well."

Executive Director gaiashkibos inspired the installation of three sculptures honoring Standing Bear; the first was erected on Lincoln's Centennial Mall in 2017, and the last was the historic placement in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., in 2019.

A peaceable nation of farmers – they raised maize, vegetables, and fruit trees — and hunters, the Ponca people were divided about leaving when they were informed of the government's January 1877 decision to relocate them from their homeland in northeast Nebraska's Niobrara River Valley to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

Accompanied by Inspector E. C. Kemble and Ponca agent J Lawrence, Standing Bear and nine other Ponca leaders left by train on Feb. 2, 1877, to survey the "Warm Lands" of the Osage and Kaw Reservations in Indian Territory and select a site for a new Ponca Reservation.

Upon arrival, Standing Bear and the others discovered that the lands considered as possible sites for their reservation were unsatisfactory. Reportedly, they were also unfamiliar with the climate, became ill, and informed Kemble that they wished to return to their homeland. They could not conduct business with the Osage chiefs, who were absent when they arrived.

Kemble was furious with the Ponca leaders’ refusal to evaluate other lands, including the Quapaw Reservation, deemed their actions "insubordination," and refused to assist them in returning to Nebraska. Lacking provisions to stay, Standing Bear and other Ponca leaders left for a strenuous, mid-winter, 500-mile walk on their own on Feb. 21, 1877.

Sleeping on the open prairie, and lacking rations took a toll. Reportedly, an agent for the Otoe Reservation in Gage County stated that Standing Bear and the Ponca leaders "left bloody footprints in the snow." After an arduous 40-day journey, they arrived at the Ponca reservation on April 2, 1877.

By this time, Kemble had received orders from Washington to relocate the Ponca to the Quapaw Reservation in Indian Territory; Ponca members who were willing to leave began their journey south with Kemble on April 16. Standing Bear and the remaining tribe members left in May with the United States military.

Harsh weather, together with brutal summer heat and insects, caused people to die on the journey, including Standing Bear's daughter, Prairie Flower, who passed away from consumption on June 5 and was buried in Milford, Nebraska.

The U.S. Army displaced Standing Bear and 600-700 other Ponca tribe members. Research provides differing accounts of the number of people who died on the journey; some estimates report approximately 100 people passed away en route to Indian Territory while others report as much as one-third of the tribe's members perished.

part 2 will be published in a subsequent edition.

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 53F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 53F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 78F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

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