Cheif Standing Bear

CHIEF STANDING BEAR

From his birth on the banks of the Niobrara River in Nebraska until his death in 1908, Chief Standing Bear spent his life in a constant struggle to gain equality and justice for our nation’s Native Americans. Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe were forced in 1877 by federal treaty to leave their homeland in Nebraska for Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.

The hardship of travel, illness, and the conditions of Indian Territory caused many members of the tribe to perish, including Chief Standing Bear’s son. Determined to bury his son in his homeland, Chief Standing Bear led thirty members of his tribe back to their home in Nebraska. As a result, Chief Standing Bear became the first Native American to be recognized as a person in a federal court decision rendered in Omaha at the trial following his return.

His trail to and from Nebraska created a two-way, circular trail.

The Story of Chief Standing Bear

1877

Ponca Removal

Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe were forced in 1877 by federal treaty to leave their homeland in Nebraska for Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma.

1877

The Journey South

The hardship of travel, illness and the conditions of Indian Territory caused many members of the tribe to perish, including Chief Standing Bear’s son Bear Shield.

1879

Honoring a Promise The Return Home

Determined to fulfill his son’s dying wish to be buried back in his homeland, Chief Standing Bear led thirty members of his tribe through subzero cold and storms back to their home in Nebraska.

1879

Standing Bear Apprehended

The group was apprehended on the Omaha reservation by General Crook and moved to Fort Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska to await a forced return back to Oklahoma.

1879

The Trial

Chief Standing Bear with the assistance of local newspaperman Thomas Henry Tibbles and prominent Omaha attorneys filed for a writ of habeas corpus in Federal Court. Judge Elmer Dundy’s decision meant that Standing Bear became the first Native American to be recognized as a person in a federal court.

1998

Chief Standing Bear Bridge

The Chief Standing Bear Bridge built across the Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota near Niobrara, Nebraska homeland of Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe.

2016

Chief Standing Bear Trail Markers on Lincoln’s Centennial Mall

The Ponca Relocation Journey will be illustrated outside of the State Office Building on Centennial Mall by a series of markers indicating point by point the tribe’s journey through the state.

The statue was installed on Nebraska’s Centennial Mall in 2017.

From his birth on the banks of the Niobrara River in Nebraska until his death in 1903, Chief Standing Bear spent his life in a constant struggle to gain equality and justice for our nation’s Native Americans. In 1877, the federal government forced Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe from their homeland to a reservation in Oklahoma. To honor his son’s dying wish to be buried in his homeland, Chief Standing Bear attempted to return to Nebraska and was arrested. In a historic 1879 court decision, he was found to be a “person under the law” and freed.

To memorialize this civil rights story, Lincoln native Donald M. Campbell commissioned worldrenowned sculptor Benjamin Victor to create a 10-foot bronze statue commemorating the historic 1879 Omaha courtroom scene where Chief Standing Bear so eloquently stated, “I Am a Man.” The statue was installed on Nebraska’s Centennial Mall in 2017.