The city of Ponca was founded in 1856 23 years before the Standing Bear s court battle While Standing Bear is an important figure in Native American and Nebraska history it s clear that the city was not named in honor of him and it s a stretch to claim that the state park was either I presume the reason that the Game and Parks Commission mentions Standing Bear is to provide the average person with any sort of connection to a tribe they are otherwise likely to know nothing about If you d like to discuss this further please leave a message on my talk page