The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the

Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma The Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, also known as the Ponca Nation, is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ponca people. The other is the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Traditionally, peoples of both tribes have spoken the Omaha-Ponca langu ...

or the

Ponca Tribe of Nebraska The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is one of two federally recognized tribes of the Ponca people. The other is the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. , the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska’s total population is 5,334 citizens, of which 1,923 reside in Nebras ...

. This nation comprised the modern-day Ponca,

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, Kaw, Osage, and

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

peoples until the mid-17th century when the people sought to establish their nation west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

as a result of the

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars (), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (), were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the Great L ...

. By the end of the 18th century, the Ponca people had established themselves at the mouth of the

Niobrara River The Niobrara River (; , , literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sandoz, referred to the rive ...

near its confluence with the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

, remaining there until 1877 when the United States forcibly removed the Ponca people from the

Ponca Reservation The Ponca Reservation of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is located in northeast Nebraska, with the seat of tribal government located in Niobrara, Knox County. The Indian reservation is also the location of the historic Ponca Fort called ''Nanza''. ...

in the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

to the

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

. This event, known as the Ponca Trail of Tears, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Ponca civilians and the splintering of the nation. In 1879, two years after the removal, a small portion of the Ponca elected to return to Nebraska in 1879. This group, led by

Standing Bear Standing Bear (–1908) (Omaha-Ponca language, Ponca official orthography: Maⁿchú-Naⁿzhíⁿ/Macunajin;U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885 Ponca Indians of Dakota other spellings: Ma-chú-nu-zhe, Ma-chú-na-zhe or Mantcunanjin pronounced ) was ...

, ultimately gave rise to the present-day Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Two years later, the majority of the Ponca were given the opportunity to return to Nebraska but elected against doing so, having established themselves on a new reservation in the Indian Territory. This group, led by White Eagle, ultimately gave rise to the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma.

Early history

At first European contact, the Ponca lived around the mouth of the

in northern

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

.Karr, Steven
A Brief History of the Ponca Tribe.
''The Official Website of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma.''. Retrieved 8 August 2009. According to tradition, they moved there from an area east of the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

just before

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

' arrival in the Americas. Siouan-speaking tribes such as the

, Osage,

and Kaw also have traditions of having migrated to the West from east of the Mississippi River. The invasions of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

from their traditional base in the north pushed those tribes out of the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

area.Louis F. Burns
"Osage"
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved 2 March 2009. Scholars are not able to determine precisely when the

Dhegiha Siouan The Dhegihan languages are a group of Siouan languages that include Kansa– Osage, Omaha–Ponca, and Quapaw. Their historical region included parts of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, the Great Plains, and southeastern North America. T ...

tribes migrated west, but know the Iroquois also pushed tribes out from the Ohio and West Virginia areas in the

. The Iroquois maintained the lands as hunting grounds. The Ponca appear on a 1701 map by

Pierre-Charles Le Sueur Pierre-Charles Le Sueur (; c. 1657, Artois, France – 17 July 1704, Havana, Cuba) was a French fur trader and explorer in North America, recognized as the first known European to explore the Minnesota River valley. Le Sueur came to Canada w ...

, who placed them along the upper

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. In 1789, fur trader Juan Baptiste Munier was given an exclusive license to trade with the Ponca at the mouth of the

. He founded a trading post at its confluence with the Missouri, where he found about 800 Ponca residing. Shortly after that, the tribe was hit by a devastating

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

. In 1804, when they were visited by the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

, only about 200 Ponca remained. Later in the 19th century, their number rose to about 700.About the Ponca Tribe.
''Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.''. Retrieved 6 January 2015. Most of the leadership of the Ponca people was destroyed in 1824. Hostile Lakotas attacked a delegation of 30 leaders of various rank returning from a visit in a friendly Oglala Lakota camp. Only twelve survived. "Numbered among the dead were all the Ponca chiefs, including the famous Smoke-maker ...".Howard, James H. (1965): ''The Ponca Tribe''. Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. Bulletin 195. Washington. Unlike most other

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...

, the Ponca grew

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

and kept vegetable gardens. Their last successful buffalo hunt was in 1855.

Treaties with the United States

In 1817 the tribe signed a peace treaty with the United States."US-Ponca Treaty of 1817"
. retrieved 4nov2011 By a second treaty in 1825, they regulated trade and tried to minimize intertribal clashes on the Northern Plains.
. retrieved 4nov2011 In 1858 the Ponca signed a treaty by which they gave up parts of their land to the United States in return for protection from hostile tribes and a permanent reservation home on the Niobrara.
. retrieved 4nov2011 The Ponca signed their last treaty with the US in 1865.
. retrieved 4nov2011 In the 1868 US-Sioux Treaty of Fort Laramie"US-Sioux Treaty of 1868"
. retrieved 4nov2011 the US mistakenly included all Ponca lands in the

Great Sioux Reservation The Great Sioux Reservation was an Indian reservation created by the United States through treaty with the Sioux, principally the Lakota, who dominated the territory before its establishment. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the reservation ...

. Conflict between the Ponca and the Sioux/Lakota, who now claimed the land as their own by US law, forced the US to remove the Ponca from their own ancestral lands.

Relocation

When

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

decided to remove several northern tribes to

(present-day

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

) in 1876, the Ponca were on the list. After inspecting the lands the US government offered for their new reservation and finding it unsuitable for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, the Ponca chiefs decided against a move to the Indian Territory. Hence, when governmental officials came in early 1877 to move the Ponca to their new land, the chiefs refused, citing their earlier treaty. Most of the tribe refused and had to be moved by force. In their new location, the Ponca struggled with

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, a shortage of food and the hot climate. One in four members died within the first year.

Standing Bear

Chief

was among those who had most vehemently protested the tribe's removal. When his eldest son, Bear Shield, lay on his deathbed, Standing Bear promised to have him buried on the tribe's ancestral lands. In order to carry out his promise, Standing Bear left the reservation in Oklahoma and traveled back toward the Ponca homelands. He was arrested for doing so without US government permission and ordered confined at Fort Omaha. Many people took up his cause, and two prominent attorneys offered their services ''pro bono''. Standing Bear filed a ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

'' suit challenging his arrest. In ''Standing Bear v. Crook'' (1879), held in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, the US District Court established for the first time that Native Americans are "persons within the meaning of the law" of the United States, and that they have certain rights as a result. This was an important

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

case.

Nebraska

In 1881, the US returned 26,236 acres (106 km²) of

Knox County, Nebraska Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 8,391. Its county seat is Center. Knox County was named for Continental and U.S. Army Major General Henry Knox. In the Nebraska ...

to the Ponca, and about half the tribe moved back north from Indian Territory. The tribe continued to decline. In the 1930s, the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

conducted an

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

project to identify and save

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

artifacts before they were destroyed during agricultural development. The team excavated a prehistoric Ponca village, which included large circular homes up to sixty feet in diameter, located almost two miles (3 km) along the south bank of the Niobrara River. Dr. Lance Martin, "Rabbit Hunt"
1997, ABCD unlimited. Retrieved 12/5/08.
1997, ABCD unlimited. Retrieved 06/19/17. After World War II, the US government began a policy of terminating its relationship with tribes. In 1966, the US federal government terminated the tribe (then called the Northern Ponca). It distributed its land by allotment to members, and sold off what it called surplus. Many individuals sold off their separate allotments over the decades, sometimes being tricked by speculators. In the 1970s, the tribe started efforts to reorganize politically. Members wanted to revive the cultural identity of its people and improve their welfare. First, they sought state recognition and then allied with their Congressional representatives to seek legislation for federal recognition. On October 31, 1990, the Ponca Restoration Bill was signed into law, and they were recognized as the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. They are now trying to rebuild a land base on their ancestral lands. They are the only federally recognized tribe in Nebraska without a reservation. Today the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska has over 2,783 enrolled members and is headquartered in

Niobrara, Nebraska Niobrara (; Omaha: ''Ní Ubthátha'' ''Tʰáⁿwaⁿgthaⁿ'' , meaning "water spread-out village")Dorsey, James Owen (1890)''The Cegiha Language: Contributions to North American Ethnology'' 4. Washington: US Department of the Interior: Governme ...

Oklahoma

After the 1877 forced relocation onto the

Reservation in Indian Territory, the tribe moved west to their own lands along the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and Salt Fork Rivers. The full-bloods formed a

tipi A tipi or tepee ( ) is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on ...

village, while the mixed-bloods settled about

Chikaskia River The Chikaskia River (usually pronounced ''chi-KAS-kee-uh'' but often pronounced ''chi-KAS-kee'' in southern Kansas) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tr ...

. During opposition by Ponca leadership, the US government began dismantling tribal government under the

Curtis Act The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act; it resulted in the break-up of tribal governments and communal lands in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasa ...

. In an attempt to encourage assimilation (and to allow Oklahoma to become a state), they allotted reservation lands to individual members under the

Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the P ...

in 1891 and 1892. Any land remaining after allotment was made available for sale to non-natives. After Oklahoma achieved statehood, some remaining Ponca land was leased or sold to the 101 Ranch, where many Ponca people found employment. The 1911 discovery of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

on Ponca lands provided revenues but had mixed results. There were environmental disasters as oil refineries dumped waste directly into the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

. In 1918, three Ponca men, Frank Eagle, Louis McDonald, and McKinley Eagle, helped co-found the

Native American Church The Native American Church (NAC), also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Syncretism, syncretic Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native Americans in the United States, Native American beliefs and eleme ...

.Mark Van de Logt, "Ponca"
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture.'' 2009 (14 December 2016) , the Native American Church is the most widespread Indigenous religion among Native Americans in the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico, having an estimated 300,000 adherents. In 1950, the nation organized a new government under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. Ponca leaders adopted the Ponca Constitution on 20 September 1950."Constitution and By-laws of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma"
''National Tribal Justice Resource Center.'' Retrieved 8 August 2009. Today, the Ponca Tribe is headquartered in

White Eagle, Oklahoma White Eagle is an unincorporated community and Census designated place in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. History White Eagle was named for the Ponca principal chief, White Eagle (ca. 1840-1914), who led the Ponca to their reservation in ...

and conducts business from

Ponca City Ponca City () is a city in Kay County, Oklahoma, Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 24,424 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 25,387 at the tim ...

Notable Ponca

Carter Camp Carter Camp (August 18, 1941, Pawnee, Oklahoma – December 27, 2013, White Eagle, Oklahoma) (Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma) was an American Indian Movement activist. Camp played a leading role in the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties that traveled to Washi ...

, AIM (American Indian Movement) leader * Brett Chapman, attorney and Native American rights advocate *

Tommy Morrison Tommy Morrison (January 2, 1969 – September 1, 2013) was an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed from 1988 to 2009. Best known for his left hook (boxing), hook and formidable punching power, Morrison won the World ...

, former heavyweight boxer/co-star in Rocky V movie *

Chief White Eagle Chief White Eagle (c. 1825 – February 3, 1914) was a Native American politician and Native American civil rights, American civil rights leader who served as the hereditary chief of the Ponca from 1870 until 1904. His 34-year tenure as the Ponc ...

, chief and civil rights advocate * Susette La Flesche, civil rights activist, writer, lecturer, interpreter, artist * Paladine Roye, painter, 1946–2001 * Ponka-We Victors,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

state legislator * Clyde Warrior, activist for Native

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

, chief and civil rights advocate

Notes

References

;Citations ;Books * Clark, C. Blue. ''Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2009. . * Dorsey, James Owen. ''Omaha and Ponka Letters.'' Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891. * Dando-Collins, Stephen. ''Standing Bear is a Person.'' Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2004.. * Rollins, Willard H
''The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains''.
Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1995.

External links

Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma

* {{authority control Plains tribes Dhegiha Siouan peoples Native American tribes in Nebraska Native American tribes in Oklahoma