Column: Ponca Chief Standing Bear a focus of documentary

Friday, February 3, 2012  

"When artist Janice Rockwell found a photograph in the VIT High School library, she had no idea that it would inspire a creation that would take three years of her time and propel her to national recognition.

The photo is known by many as “The Ten Chiefs,” and portrays the Ponca tribal leaders who journeyed to Washington in 1877 to argue against a federal decision to relocate the tribe from Nebraska to what was then known as the Oklahoma Indian Territory.

What happened after that is the subject of a documentary that will air on PBS in the 2012-2013 television season. A group of Macomb area residents got to see a preview of the film “Standing Bear’s Footsteps” on Sunday at a showing organized by Jerry and Jan Lindsay, friends of Rockwell and her husband Dean.

The documentary depicts the life of the Ponca chief who made history by suing the army in federal court. Chief Standing Bear,in 1879, argued that Native Americans were entitled to human rights, which included the right to live where they chose."

Get the Story:
Patrick Stout: The case for Native American legal rights (The McDonough County Voice 2/3)