1879: Standing Bear argues for Poncas in federal court

During the 1879 landmark Indian policy case of Standing Bear v. Crook, Ponca Chief Standing Bear declared:

"This hand is not the color of yours, but if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be of the same color as yours. I am a man. The same God made us both."

These words convinced Judge Elmer Scipio Dundy in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska to declare for the first time in the nation's history that Native Americans are "persons" under federal law: a declaration that reversed decades of Indian policy.

Theme

Federal-Tribal Relations

Region

Great Plains