The U.S. House passed H.J.Res 1043 on Tuesday in honor of Ponca Chief Standing Bear, who won a landmark court case on behalf of Indian rights.
Standing Bear was chief of the tribe when the U.S. government forced the Poncas to leave Nebraska for Oklahoma in 1878. After losing nearly a quarter of his people, including his 12-year-old son, Standing Bear decided to return to Nebraska in 1879.
But Standing Bear and other Poncas were arrested for trying to return home. He went to federal court to seek his freedom and the judge in the case issued a landmark ruling that said Indians had individual rights.
Standing Bear died in Nebraska in 1908. One Ponca Tribe is now based in Nebraska and the other in Oklahoma.
Get the Story:U.S. House honors late Ponca chief's work (The Oklahoman 4/230)
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