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HONORABLE MENTION: CONGRESSMAN JEFF FORTENBERRY

Posted on October 16, 2007 - Filed Under Honorable Mention, Education |

Honor Indians Institute would like to honor Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry for his efforts to have Ponca Chief Standing Bear’s image placed on the new $1 Native American Coin. The Native American $1 Coin Act calls for the Sacagawea dollar coin to be redesigned. Sacagawea will remain on one side, and the opposite side should display “images celebrating the important contributions made by Indian Tribes and Individual Native Americans to the development of the United States and the history of the United States.”

Congressman Fortenberry, has requested that the Treasury Department honor Standing Bear with the first coin to be released in 2009. The honor for Standing Bear would be timely because next year marks the 100th anniversary of his death.

Standing Bear was born on Ponca land in what is now Nebraska. His son died during the tribe’s forced relocation to Oklahoma. Standing Bear promised his son that he would bury him on their homeland, rather than in the Indian territory where they were being forcibly moved. Standing Bear, and some of his family, were arrested by the military upon their return to Nebraska.

When word of their arrest was publicized, a few prominent Omaha attorneys came to his defense. A writ of habeas corpus was filed in his behalf. A writ of habeas corpus is a constitutional protection made available to “any person” under the jurisdiction of the United States to challenge their incarceration. The threshold issue for the court to determine was whether or not Standing Bear, as an Indian, was to be considered a “person” for purposes of the U.S. Constitution.

Standing Bear’s eloquent speech during the ensuing trial, and the judge’s decision that Standing Bear, and therefore all Indians, should be considered “persons”, and had rights under the U.S. Constitution. This decision was a landmark decision in the Indian’s struggle for civil rights.

Congressman Fortenberry is hopeful that this will happen, and he will send a letter to the Treasury Department within a week to make the request. He also plans to ask the rest of the Nebraska congressional delegation to support this request. Fortenberry said he has been looking for a way to honor the Ponca chief, but many other possibilities would take a long time. The new $1 coin law represents an opportunity to honor the chief now.

“It’s a story that needs to be told,” Fortenberry said. Honor Indians Institute agrees that this is a story that needs to be told, and this would be an appropriate way to honor Chief Standing Bear.