Chief Standing Bear's legacy, civil rights leader of his time - Part 2

The land of Chief Standing Bear's Ponca
Chief Standing Bear's band of 30 settled on an unclaimed island of the Niobrara for ten years. In 1890, ten years later, the U.S. government granted the Ponca a small land plot along the Niobrara's west bank. Chief Standing Bear lived there quietly and peacefully until his death in 1908. Eventually, the tribe itself received 26,000 acres in Knox County, Nebraska.

Chief Standing Bear's descendants, the Northern Ponca of Nebraska, have endured an ongoing struggle with the U.S. government's Indian policies, including a recent battle to restore their status as a federally recognized tribe. Many Ponca credit Standing Bear's perseverance and prowess for the path he paved for them. "The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is one of the most successful Tribes in Indian Country when it comes to effective lobbying and passage of favorable legislation and administrative policies."

"We always win, we always win, we win because we are in-tact. We win because we are whole. We have grandchildren, we have great-grandchildren. We have generations that depend on us to be strong and to create a way in this world, and we will do that." - Janet Saiz, Northern Ponca

Chief Standing Bear's lasting impression on Nebraska

While well-documented, Chief Standing Bear's story remains one of the unknown heroic stories of American history. Standing Bear stood in Judge Dundy's courtroom with his outstretched hand demanding the world see him for what he was—a man. He stood with conviction and strength. He offered all he could give.

"In 2015, this story [Standing Bear's] so moved Nebraska native Don Campbell that he approached the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs [NCIA] and the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, with a vision to commission a world-class bronze statue to honor the story of Chief Standing Bear." Campbell's private foundation and the NCIA hired famed Sculptor Ben Victor of Idaho to create such a piece.

Victor's 11-foot statue of Chief Standing Bear arrived in the fall of 2017 and now stands in front of the Nebraska state capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the Centennial Mall. The piece is "exquisite— the beadwork on his hips, moccasins and neckpiece; the writing on the medallions; the pieces in the feathers; and, especially the lines and ridges in his hands and face that make the figure become…Standing Bear."

To further honor the importance of Standing Bear's place is - not only Nebraska's history but also American history - "a second casting [of the statue] was installed in 2018 at the headquarters in Niobrara of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska." Congress unveiled a third and final casting in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in September of 2019.

The unveiling ceremony of the statue of Ponca Chief Standing Bear in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill. Getty Images. 

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Many Nebraska dignitaries attended the event. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts told the crowd Chief Standing Bear's remarkable story. Nebraska Representative Jeff Fortenberry, called the statue, "'breathtaking' and the ceremony 'deeply moving'…it really is about a story of dignity and courage and perseverance. Standing Bear's willingness to stand forth for the essence of human dignity and, in turn, become one of America's great civil rights leaders.'"