Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Fall 2002
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly Vol. 22, No. 4, Fall 2002, pp. 271-84.
Abstract
The twenty-first century presents opportunities, as well as limitations, for the American Indian Nations of the Great Plains. Opportunities include enhanced economic development activities (e.g., casino gambling, telecommunications, and high-tech industries) and innovative tribal programming such as language immersion programs made possible through enhanced self-governance initiatives. Limitations include familiar scripts that perpetually threaten tribal sovereignty and chronically underfunded annual appropriations for Native American health, housing, and social service programs.
The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, terminated in 1965 and restored to federally recognized status in 1990,1 embraces these challenges by exploring the limits of self-governance, economic development opportunities, and cultural revitalization initiatives. The Ponca recognize they have experienced profound cultural loss over the past three centuries. Yet the definition of what it "means" to be Ponca has never been lost.
Tribal termination was the culmination of generations of federal Indian policy that adversely affected the Ponca.2 Historically, the Ponca were a small tribe who suffered considerably as a result of treaties of cession, forced removal to Indian Territory, the subsequent division of the tribe into "Northern" and "Southern" entities, allotment, and the eventual dispossession of all but 834 acres of their original estate.3 By the time the government enacted its termination policy in the 1950s, there was little left of the former estate of the Northern Ponca to fight for.
The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska was restored to federally recognized status on 31 October 1990. The language of their restoration legislation specifically prohibits the tribe from ever seeking a residential reservation.4 Rather, it is allowed to deliver services (e.g., health, housing, and social services) to their widely dispersed membership who reside in fifteen counties in Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota (Fig. 1). These counties include the cities of Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, and Norfolk in Nebraska, as well as Council Bluffs and Sioux City in Iowa. Tribal headquarters are located in Niobrara, Nebraska. Field offices are located in Omaha, Lincoln, Norfolk, and Sioux City. The tribe is allowed to acquire trust land and deliver a full range of services in all of the fifteen counties that comprise their service areas.
Comments
Copyright 2002 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln