Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-04-23

ancestral lands. Up until recent times Indians
could not sue the United States except by permits
sion obtained through special act of congress-
Legislation passed during the last four years, how
ever has removed this barrier Now the red man
is to have his day in court-the United States
Court of Claims.
In many respects the case Of the Poncas is the
most Interesting of them all. 1t recalls another
legal battle in which this tribe figured nearly
half century ago, at a time when the red
more accustomed to attempt to right his wrongs
with the Ratchet and the scaping knife than with
Writs appeals and court orders.
In 1877 the government decided to the
Poncas from their homes in Nebraska to Indian
Territory because the reservation confirmed to
them by treaty had been included in land granted
to the Sioux. Despite the protests of Standing
Bear, q leading chief, he and nine others were
taken south to select a reservation and when they
declined to do this their reqdest to be returned
to Nebraska was refused So with only blanket
apiece and a few dollars in their possession they
started back on foot.
1t took them 40 days to cover the 500 miles and
when they arrived they found that officials of the
Indian department had called upon the military
for aid in removing their tribesmen So the Pom
cas- losing hope, abandoned their homes and went
to Indian Territory The change of climate brought
great suffering within year third of the tribe
had died-among them sor of Chief Standing
Bear and the survivors Ill or disabled
buried in the land of his fathers. In defiance of
orders from the government, he accompanied by
few followers, set out for Nebraska in January,
1879, bearing the bones Of his son for burial in
the North. In March, the party, dressed in rags
and almost starving, arrived st the Omaha Indian
reservation where they asked the Omahas for the
loan Of seed and1and But when they were about
to put in crop, soldiers appeared with orders to
return them to Indian Territory.
Again they were started back to the hated res
ervation in the South While camped near Omaha,
the chief was interviewed by T. H Tibbles, cor
respondent for an Omaha newspaper. His story
of the wrongs of the Poncas resultedin two Omaha
lawyers offering their services to the Indians and
suing out writ of habeas corpus in their behalf.
The government denied the right of the prisoners
to such writ but in April Judge Dundy ruled that
San Indian is person within the meaning of the
law and ordered the Poncas released.
The next winter Standing Bear accompanied by
Tibbes and Susette La Flesche, an educated wom-
an of the Omaha tribe, as interpreters, went on
tour of the East tell the story of his people, He
attracted national attention and sympathy. The
President and other government officials were
flooded with protests and in 1880 the senate ap-
pointed committee to investigate the case AS
a result the Poncas who chose to remain in Indian
Territory, were given better lands, those who had
lost property were paid for it and Standing Bear
was granted a home near the village site of his
ancestors where he remained until the day of his
death in 1908.
Now the Oklahoma Poncas suing the govern
ment for approximately $11,000000, the value of
the land in Nebraska and South Dakota which
they maintain was taken from them forcibly at
the time of their removal to Indian Territory. They
affirm further that there agreement with
them when late in the sos President Benjamin
Harrison declared their title to that land extin-
guished The territory in question includes
IS townships, covering five or six counties in Ne
braska, and extending as far the Black Hills.
The Sioux are asking even more from Uncle
Sam. They are bringing action for an aggregate
of $219 O00 which, with interest accrued, brings
the total up to the staggering of threequarters
of a billion of dollars making 1t probably the
largest amount ever asked in any suit ever filed