Standing Bear continues to inspire others
A play is in the works. A book will be published next spring. And a documentary is being filmed.
Nearly 100 years after Ponca Chief Standing Bear’s death, his story continues to inspire others.
“This past year or two it’s just been like an explosion of things related to Standing Bear,” said Christine Lesiak, an executive producer for NET Television who is working on a documentary about the chief’s life.
Lately, it seems everyone has Standing Bear on the brain:
* In March 2007, “Wakonda’s Dream” — an opera about a modern Ponca family and its relationship to Standing Bear — debuted at the Orpheum in Omaha.
* On Friday, the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs will host the fourth annual Chief Standing Bear Commemoration Celebration at the Capitol.
* That night, New York City playwright Chris Cartmill will perform his monologue about Standing Bear, “The Nebraska Dispatches,” at the Johnny Carson Theater. The University of Nebraska Press plans to publish a book based on Cartmill’s monologue.
* The University of Nebraska Press plans to publish a children’s book about Standing Bear.
* Next spring, St. Martin’s Press of New York will publish “I Am a Man,” a book about Standing Bear written by Joe Starita, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of journalism.
* And Tribeca Films plans to produce a film about Standing Bear’s life.
Judi Morgan gaiashkibos of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs said Standing Bear’s story empowers Native people.
“The Standing Bear story gives us an opportunity to remind people of our history,” she said.
That lesson appears to be catching on. In the past month, state and federal lawmakers also have recognized the chief.
In April, the Nebraska Legislature passed a resolution calling on the secretary of treasury to select Standing Bear as one of the designs for the reverse of the Sacagawea $1 coin.
And last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry that honors the life and legacy of Standing Bear.
“He has become my Moby Dick,” said Starita, who has spent the past four years researching Standing Bear’s life.
The appeal of Standing Bear’s story, he said, comes from its universal themes — family, freedom and a desire to return home.
In January 1879, Standing Bear and 30 followers left Oklahoma, where the Ponca had been forcibly moved two years earlier.
They planned to return to Nebraska to bury the chief’s son.
Two months later, Standing Bear was arrested and put on trial.
That May, after a two-day trial, a federal judge recognized Standing Bear as a human under the law and freed him, a landmark decision that secured constitutional rights for all Native people.
Standing Bear returned to his home near the mouth of the Niobrara, where he died in 1908.
“I think that’s a fantastic story, and I’m often surprised at how few people have heard of it,” said Lesiak, who expects to complete her documentary next year.
With it, she hopes to tell Standing Bear’s story in all its richness, rather than the simplistic, iconic version of his life many people know, she said.
Beyond a story about a humble father who wanted to return home with his son’s remains, Standing Bear’s story is about the eclectic collection of people who championed his cause, Lesiak said. They included a newspaper reporter, a frontier judge, a general and a renowned Native poet.
For Cartmill, it’s easy to see why so many people continue to tell Standing Bear’s story today.
He compared the chief’s story to a diamond.
“Every way you look at it there’s something different,” he said. “It’s universal in its implications.”
Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.
Nearly 100 years after Ponca Chief Standing Bear’s death, his story continues to inspire others.
“This past year or two it’s just been like an explosion of things related to Standing Bear,” said Christine Lesiak, an executive producer for NET Television who is working on a documentary about the chief’s life.
Lately, it seems everyone has Standing Bear on the brain:
* In March 2007, “Wakonda’s Dream” — an opera about a modern Ponca family and its relationship to Standing Bear — debuted at the Orpheum in Omaha.
* On Friday, the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs will host the fourth annual Chief Standing Bear Commemoration Celebration at the Capitol.
* That night, New York City playwright Chris Cartmill will perform his monologue about Standing Bear, “The Nebraska Dispatches,” at the Johnny Carson Theater. The University of Nebraska Press plans to publish a book based on Cartmill’s monologue.
* The University of Nebraska Press plans to publish a children’s book about Standing Bear.
* Next spring, St. Martin’s Press of New York will publish “I Am a Man,” a book about Standing Bear written by Joe Starita, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of journalism.
* And Tribeca Films plans to produce a film about Standing Bear’s life.
Judi Morgan gaiashkibos of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs said Standing Bear’s story empowers Native people.
“The Standing Bear story gives us an opportunity to remind people of our history,” she said.
That lesson appears to be catching on. In the past month, state and federal lawmakers also have recognized the chief.
In April, the Nebraska Legislature passed a resolution calling on the secretary of treasury to select Standing Bear as one of the designs for the reverse of the Sacagawea $1 coin.
And last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry that honors the life and legacy of Standing Bear.
“He has become my Moby Dick,” said Starita, who has spent the past four years researching Standing Bear’s life.
The appeal of Standing Bear’s story, he said, comes from its universal themes — family, freedom and a desire to return home.
In January 1879, Standing Bear and 30 followers left Oklahoma, where the Ponca had been forcibly moved two years earlier.
They planned to return to Nebraska to bury the chief’s son.
Two months later, Standing Bear was arrested and put on trial.
That May, after a two-day trial, a federal judge recognized Standing Bear as a human under the law and freed him, a landmark decision that secured constitutional rights for all Native people.
Standing Bear returned to his home near the mouth of the Niobrara, where he died in 1908.
“I think that’s a fantastic story, and I’m often surprised at how few people have heard of it,” said Lesiak, who expects to complete her documentary next year.
With it, she hopes to tell Standing Bear’s story in all its richness, rather than the simplistic, iconic version of his life many people know, she said.
Beyond a story about a humble father who wanted to return home with his son’s remains, Standing Bear’s story is about the eclectic collection of people who championed his cause, Lesiak said. They included a newspaper reporter, a frontier judge, a general and a renowned Native poet.
For Cartmill, it’s easy to see why so many people continue to tell Standing Bear’s story today.
He compared the chief’s story to a diamond.
“Every way you look at it there’s something different,” he said. “It’s universal in its implications.”
Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.
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