Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

Ethnic group

Ponca Tribe of NebraskaTotal population

5,334[1] (2023, census)
Regions with significant populations
United States
Nebraska| 1,923[2]
Iowa| 394[2]
South Dakota| 366[2]
Colorado| 342[2]
Languages
English, Ponca
Religion
traditional tribal religion, Christianity, Native American Church
Related ethnic groups
other Ponca people, Omaha, other Dhegihan peoples
Standing Bear, Susette Primeau, and their son

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. As of 2023[update], the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska’s total population is 5,334 citizens,[1] of which 1,923 reside in Nebraska.[2]

## Reservation

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From the original Ponca Reservation, the tribe has repurchased a trust landbase of 819 acres (331 ha). Since the passage of the Ponca Restoration Act, the tribe has the legal right to conduct business in Iowa.[3]

The tribe has used the land to restore a bison herd to the area.[4]

## Government

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The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is headquartered in Niobrara, Nebraska. The tribe is governed by a democratically elected council. Candace Schmidt is currently serving as tribal chairperson.[3]

## History

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Ponca people are thought to have migrated to the Great Plains from the Ohio River valley. In the mid-16th century, Ponca people migrated with the Kansa, Omaha, and Osage north, up the Mississippi. They separated from the Omaha in the mid-17th century but reunited with them near the Niobrara River of Nebraska in 1793. Introduced European diseases had killed 90% of the Ponca people by 1804, when the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived in their lands.[5]

The Ponca signed their first treaty with the United States in 1817, ceding two million acres of their lands. In 1858, their reservation had been reduced to 100,000 acres (40,000 ha). Poncas were removed to Indian Territory; 25% of the tribe died from disease and starvation in a single year. Chief Standing Bear led a group on a 500-mile walking trek (800 km) back to their homelands in Nebraska to bury their dead. The subsequent trial, Standing Bear v. Crook established the writ of habeas corpus for the first time for Native Americans, also allowed the Poncas to have lands restored to them in Nebraska.[5] Niobrara Island was included in the original reservation.

In the 1930s, an archeological survey was begun on the Ponca/Niobrara Reservation south of the Niobrara River and Lynch, Nebraska.[6] In an effort to identify and save prehistoric artifacts before they were destroyed during agricultural development, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Smithsonian Institution undertook a joint project. The team excavated a prehistoric Ponca village; the ten laborers on the project were paid by the Works Progress Administration of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration during the Great Depression.[6] The project was to survey, identify and protect ancient resources. The Ponca village included large circular homes up to sixty feet in diameter; their residences were located for almost two miles (3 km) along the south bank of the Niobrara River.[6][7]

In the 1950s, the United States government unilaterally terminated recognition of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Since 1990, the tribe reacquired 413 acres (167 ha) of their lost lands. The US government finally re-recognized the tribe in 1990.[8]

In 2018 farmers Helen and Art Tanderup gifted and deeded 1.6 acres (0.65 ha) of their land near Neligh, Nebraska, which had been in their family for 137 years, back to the tribe in the first ceremony of its kind; the Fifth Annual planting of sacred Ponca corn also took place. The land lies in the path of the historic Trail of Tears as well as the Keystone XL Pipeline.[9]

## Notable tribal members

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|

Two Ponca men display Chief Standing Bear's pipe tomahawk at the Nebraska State Capitol

* Standing Bear, chief
* Verdell Primeaux, Native American Church singer and songwriter

## Notes

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1. ^ a b "Tribal Enrollment". Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. February 2023. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
2. ^ a b c d e "Ponca Tribe Member Demographics" (PDF). Tribal Enrollment - Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. February 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
3. ^ a b [1] Ponca Tribe of Nebraska enrollment Retrieved January 10, 2017.
4. ^ Monroe, Waverle (May 16, 2024). "Ponca Tribe of Nebraska's efforts to bring buffalo back to the plains". KETV. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
5. ^ a b Pritzker 353
6. ^ a b c Dr. Lance Martin, "Rabbit Hunt", 1997, ABCD unlimited. Retrieved 12/5/08.
7. ^ Dr. Lance Martin, "Dig Deep", 1997, ABCD unlimited. Retrieved 06/19/17.
8. ^ Pritzker 353–354
9. ^ Hefflinger', Mark (June 11, 2018). "In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along "Trail of Tears"". Bold Nebraska. Retrieved June 16, 2019.

## References

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* Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ponca.

* Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, official website

* v
* t
* e

Native Americans in Nebraska

Historic and present tribes|

* Arapaho
* Arikara
* Comanche
* Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
* Kiowa
* Meskwaki
* Missouria
* Northern Cheyenne
* Omaha
* Otoe
* Pawnee
* Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
* Sauk
* Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
* Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
* Sioux
* Skidi Pawnee

Present languages|

* Hocak
* Omaha-Ponca language
* Fox language
* Sioux language
* Sac language

Present reservations|

* Ioway
* Omaha
* Ponca
* Sac and Fox
* Santee Sioux
* Winnebago

Present tribal
colleges and universities|

* Little Priest Tribal College
* Nebraska Indian Community College

Historic figures|

* Antonine Barada
* Big Elk
* Chief Blackbird
* Joba Chamberlain
* Larry EchoHawk
* Logan Fontenelle
* Francis La Flesche
* Joseph La Flesche
* Old Lady Grieves The Enemy
* Petalesharo
* Susan La Flesche Picotte
* Red Cloud
* Standing Bear
* Susette LaFlesche Tibbles
* Jim Thorpe
* James Young Deer
* Moses J. "Chief" Yellow Horse

Historic events|

* Battle of Ash Hollow
* Massacre Canyon
* Battle of Mud Springs
* Battle of Rush Creek
* Battle of Warbonnet Creek
* Grattan massacre
* Cheyenne War
* Indian Congress

Historic reservations|

* Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation
* Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
* Oto
* Pawnee
* Niobrara

Historic communities|

* Ton'wontongathon
* Pike-Pawnee Village Site
* Skidi Pawnee Village
* Horse Creek Pawnee Village
* Cottonwood Creek
* Schrader Archeological Site
* Fullerton Archeological Site
* Oto Indian Village Site
* Leshara Site
* McClean Site
* Woodcliff Site
* Theodore Davis Site
* Kelso Site
* Wright Site

Historic sacred places|

* Pahur
* Ahkawitakol
* Lalawakohtito
* Pahuk
* Cunningham Archeological Site

Other historic places|

* Blackbird Hill
* Genoa Indian Industrial School
* Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital
* Indian agencies
* Susan LaFlesche Picotte House
* Nanza
* Moses Merrill Mission
* Pawnee Mission and Burnt Village Archeological Site
* Carlisle Indian Industrial School
* Ionia Volcano

Precontact peoples|

* Central Plains
* Woodland
* Dismal River

Precontact communities|

* Leary Site
* Ash Hollow
* Coufal
* Schultz site
* Signal Butte
* Site 25SM20
* Champe-Fremont 1 Archeological Site
* Frank Parker Archeological Site
* Sweetwater Archeological Site
* Burkett Archeological Site
* Ashland Archeological Site
* Yutan Site
* Schrader Archeological Site
* Humphrey Archeological Site
* Table Rock Archeological Site

Other precontact places|

* Indian Cave
* Indian Hill
* Walker Gilmore site
* Site JF00-072
* Hudson-Meng Bison Kill
* Woodcliff Burials
* Nehawka Flint Quarries
* Farwell Archeological District
* Blue Springs, aka Wonder Site
* Barneston Site
* Kurz Omaha Village Site
* Patterson Site
* Fontenelle Forest Historic District
* Wolfe and Grey (Schuyler) Sites
* Schulte Archeological Site
* Wiseman Archeological Site
* Durflinger Site

Other topics|

* Native American place names in Nebraska

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