STANDING BEAR WAS ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO GO HOME – THEN HIS CASE FORCED A U.S. COURT TO DECIDE IF A NATIVE MAN WAS A “PERSON”

In 1879, a federal judge ruled that an Indian was a person under the law.

The fuller version is harder to forget.

The Ponca lived in northeastern Nebraska.

Federal treaty-making and policy helped create a crisis over their land.

The government forced them to Indian Territory.

People died on the road.