Postal Service honors Nebraska's Chief Standing Bear with soon

Jul 18, 2023

Six years after her award-winning documentary — "Standing Bear's Footsteps" — aired on PBS, Christine Lesiak received a call from the United States Postal Service seeking information on the historic Nebraska activist.

Chief Standing Bear, the Ponca chief who won a landmark 1879 court case that ruled Natives were people under the law with inherent rights, was nominated by the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee in 2017.

The committee is appointed by the postmaster general and recommends subjects for future stamp designs.

"People see (stamps) no matter where they live — whether they buy the stamp or it's on a letter they receive, they know this is a person who's important," Lesiak said.

Once a recommendation is approved, the team works with art directors to oversee the creation of stamp designs. The directors work with professional designers, artists, illustrators and photographers to produce approximately 35 stamps a year.

In February of 2018, the USPS team began reaching out to people who knew Chief Standing Bear's life and biography, such as Lesiak and fellow Nebraskan Joseph Starita, whose novel "‘I Am a Man’: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice" is the basis for a movie expected to begin production this year.

Lesiak and Starita previously met while doing research for their respective projects, and said they were more than happy to help the process along.

"I think we both thought the stamp would come out right away, but it didn't," Lesiak said. "I wondered if it would ever happen."

Now, more than five years after its conception, the stamp is set to be released on May 12.

"The chief is running with a pretty fast crowd — one whose cultural depth and diversity is dazzling," Starita said. "The United States Postal Service will release stamps honoring Toni Morrison, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chief Standing Bear — a magnificent African American writer, a courageous Jewish American Supreme Court Justice and a heroic Native American chief whose landmark legal victory made him a civil rights icon."

Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp — a color rendition of a black-and-white photograph taken in 1877, mainly based on courtroom descriptions and transcripts.

Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp — a color rendition of a black-and-white photograph taken in 1877, mainly based on courtroom descriptions and transcripts.

"Standing Bear had no idea he’d be so well-known," Lesiak said. "When he died, his story had been all but forgotten. … He’d never have thought he’d have a statue and a stamp and a documentary and a book."

The stamp's impact will go far beyond the pages of stamp collectors’ books. Starita, who has worked extensively with Nebraska's Native communities, said he was excited about the stamp's potential impact on Native people.

"Especially the children, who need their own heroes, real heroes, not cardboard cutouts and moldy stereotypes from bygone eras," Starita said. "In the end, you can't be what you can't see. … Native people can now see Standing Bear in a book, in a documentary, as a statue on Centennial Mall and in the U.S. Capitol — and soon as a beautiful stamp on thousands of envelopes crisscrossing the country."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (from left), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Steve Laravie Jr. and Judi gaiashkibos applaud the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in 2019. Laravie is a great-great-great-great-grandson of Standing Bear.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts makes remarks following the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall on Wednesday.

Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of Nebraska's Indian Affairs, and Steve Laravie Jr., a great-great-great-great-grandson of Standing Bear, pose after the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall in 2019. The statue escaped harm in last week's Capitol attack.

A statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear of Nebraska, after its unveiling in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in 2019.

A Native color guard attends the unveiling ceremony of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelos recognizes guests, including Ponca Tribal Chairman Larry Wright, Jr. (left) and Steve Laravie Jr. (right), during the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall.

Wright

A statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear of Nebraska, after its unveiling in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol, on Wednesday.

Author Joe Starita (left), who wrote "I Am a Man" and Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of Nebraska's Indian Affairs, pose before the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall in 2019. The statue escaped harm in last week's Capitol attack.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy makes remarks following the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (from left), Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and Sen. Deb Fischer listen to remarks during an unveiling ceremony of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall in September.

Nebraska Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon pauses as he concludes remarks at an unveiling ceremony of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall. Brewer is seeking to add the flags of four Native tribes to the state in the state's legislative chamber.

Steve Laravie Jr., a great-great-great-great-grandson of Standing Bear, performs during the unveiling ceremony of Ponca Chief Standing Bear's statue in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in 2019. The statue escaped harm in last week's Capitol attack.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts makes remarks following the unveiling of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (from left), Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, Sen. Deb Fischer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Roy Blunt and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bow their heads at the conclusion of an unveiling ceremony of a statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or [email protected].

On Twitter @laurenpenington

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Lauren Penington, a Colorado native and current junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, reports on breaking news and feature stories as a news intern for the Journal Star.

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