Support is growing for the designation of a trail that will recognize the forced removal of the Ponca Tribe.

The Chief Standing Bear Trail would trace the 500-mile path that Ponca ancestors took in 1877. The federal government forced them to leave Nebraska for a reservation in Oklahoma.

The trail would be named in honor of Standing Bear, who returned to Nebraska in order to bury his 16-year-old son, who died in Oklahoma. He was arrested, resulting in a federal court case in which he was declared a person, a first for an Indian person.

The Poncas are now recognized as tribes in Nebraska and Oklahoma.

“The greatest thing about this story is that we came back,'' Judi gaiashkibos, a tribal memer who serves as executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, told The Omaha World-Herald. “The trail was circular.''

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska) supports the trail, the paper said. It would include points in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

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Tribe hopes new trail will shine light on story of Ponca and Chief Standing Bear (The Omaha World-Herald 12/3)