Geography
Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
First Advisor
David J. Wishart
Committee Members
J. Clark Archer, Stephen Lavin
Date of this Version
8-1993
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College in the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
Major: Geography
Under the supervision of Professor David J. Wishart
Lincoln, Nebraska, August 1993
Abstract
In 1890 the Ponca Reservation in Knox and Boyd county was parcelled up and each individual Ponca received a plot of land as his or her own. The remaining 72,000 acres were opened for settlement under the Homestead Act. During the next few decades, most of the remaining Ponca lands held by individuals were sold to non-Indians. When the Ponca were allowed to acquire some tribal lands under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, the land base had already disintegrated. One effect of this disintegrating land base was the increased out-migration of tribal members which eventually led to termination of the tribe in 1966.
This study examines the process of land alienation of Indian lands from the aboriginal land holdings to today. Since land has always been at the heart of Native American relations with the Federal government, this is also a study of policy with regards to Indian land holdings. The focus is on the period between allotment in 1890 and the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. It was between those dates that most of the land held by individual Poncas was sold.
By using a geographic approach and drawing heavily on land records, among other sources, this study examines the reasons for this loss of land and its consequences for the Northern Ponca. Several federal policies which had the strongest adverse impact on Northern Ponca land holdings are identified.
Advisor: David J. Wishart
Included in
Human Geography Commons, Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Land Use Law Commons, Law and Race Commons, Native American Studies Commons, Regional Sociology Commons
Comments
Copyright 1993, Oliver Raimund Froehling. Used by permission