Trail Of Tears Thesis

Background Information and Thesis
When America was still in its early years of being an independent nation, Native Americans had a socioeconomic status that could be described as almost nonexistent because it was so low. The American government toyed with the Indians like puppets for years as the country expanded west, and eventually forcibly secured them in federally controlled reservations under the guise of protecting them. By the middle of the nineteenth century, all Native American tribes resided west of the Mississippi River on reserves due to the Indian Removal Act signed in 1830 (Editors). Because the early government of the United States refused to compromise on the rights of Native Americans, an 1879 court case in Nebraska brought

the conflict to its apex, resulting in the government’s recognition of Native Americans as a person, with all of the rights of any human being.

For decades, the relationship between Indians and the government had been strained at best. The government didn’t view Indians as human beings, which, in turn, allowed them to simply relocate the tribes whenever they pleased -- even against their will if necessary -- without argument or a single consequence. One of the most well-known relocations the Native Americans endured was the Trail of Tears. It began with former president Andrew Jackson signing the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830, which stated that the president could force the Native Americans to move to government-run reservations in a more isolated area where there were fewer American citizens. The Native Americans from the northern states of America took the Trail of Tears path as they walked to Oklahoma and other southern states where the

government-controlled reserves were located.

The Ponca Indian Tribe
The Ponca tribe of North Dakota was merely one of the numerous Native American tribes who were compelled to relocate. The people of the tribe, like all of the other Native Americans, suffered a great deal in their new life on the reservations. The Ponca tribe consisted of people originally from the Omaha tribe who branched off in order to form their own community (Wendzillo). They were a nomadic tribe who moved locations frequently, depending on whether they were farming or buffalo hunting. They were one of the smaller Native American tribes; in the early 1800’s, the tribe consisted of about eight-hundred people. The Ponca tribe almost went completely off the historical grid around 1840 as they dispersed west of the Niobrara River in Nebraska. But this would not remain true forever.
The Journey to the Reservations
As the Indians journeyed toward their new reservations, they marched through treacherous conditions. The weather was cold, and they lacked food and sufficient supplies for such a trek. Inevitably, the people began to suffer and many died. When, months later, they finally arrived in present-day Oklahoma, the Native Americans’ experiences were no better. The conditions of living were very harsh. The sweltering heat of the south brought on mosquitoes, and with the mosquitoes came disease -- specifically malaria. Malaria is caused by a parasite and transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There was no housing or supplies set up for the Indians when they arrived, which only exacerbated their suffering. Within the first two years of the Ponca tribe members’ lives on the Oklahoma reserve, nearly one third of them contracted malaria, and most who did passed away soon thereafter (Wendzillo).
One of those who was weakened by malaria was Bear Shield, the only son of a Ponca Indian chief. Bear Shield’s father, Standing Bear, had been grooming his son to bridge the divide between the people of the Ponca tribe and the white man for years. But his son’s death seemed to annihilate this idea, as well as his hope for a future where his tribe could live at peace among the new citizens.
As Standing Bear nursed his dying son, Bear Shield requested something nearly impossible.

He looked into his father’s eyes and pleaded that his remains be buried among those of his ancestors in the sacred Ponca burial ground in the White Chalk Bluffs of North Dakota, where the remains of many Ponca tribe members lay. In the Ponca culture, if your remains were not buried with those of your deceased tribe members, you would forever wander alone in the afterlife. Standing Bear decided that, no matter how difficult it would prove to be to fulfil his son’s dying wish, he would not allow Bear Shield to wander alone.
In addition to the logistical challenges of making such a long trek, the Ponca members were further hampered by the conditions of the Indian Removal Act. The group did not have permission to leave their reservation, which meant by leaving, they were breaking the law and could be arrested at any time. Despite this, Standing Bear gathered men and women of his tribe after his son’s passing and, together, about thirty members of the Ponca tribe began their march to fulfill Bear Shield’s request.
The Second

Excursion
It was the second morning in January when Standing Bear and his fellow tribe members began their journey up to North Dakota, determined to spread Bear Shield’s remains among his tribes’ sacred ground. The temperatures were well below freezing, and the people of the Ponca tribe were ill-equipped for such bitter conditions. They presumed their trip of five hundred plus miles would last between four and five months, and under the utterly terrible, gruesome circumstances, it only became more difficult.
In the wintery months of 1879, Standing Bear and the other tribe members made progress toward the cliffs of North Dakota. There were no close calls with the law; or so they thought. But while they were still walking, United States Army General George Crook was informed of the Ponca members’ violation of the Indian Removal Act and was ordered to arrest them (Wendzillo). He felt ashamed to do so, and he pleaded with his superior not to send his people out on this mission. But Crook’s pleading didn’t work and he was forced to send out a crew of law enforcement officers to find and detain Standing Bear’s pack.
When the tribe members were within two days of reaching the White Chalk Bluffs, Standing Bear and the others were intercepted by the army officers (Wendzillo). General Crook was appalled by the sight set before his eyes. Most of the Ponca Indians were in bare feet and many had severe cases of frostbite, to the point where pieces of skin falling off.
As they were marched to jail, the men and women’s physical suffering was matched by their sorrow that they couldn’t grant Bear Shield’s wish. Crook noticed this and began to question his duties. Morally, he knew what he was doing wasn’t right, but he was forced to obey the orders from his commander. Regardless, he found a way to do the right thing.
In the early hours of a Sunday morning, Crook secretly met with the editor of the Omaha Daily Herald, Thomas Henry Tibbles, and informed him of the Ponca’s plight (Wendzillo). Soon after, Tibbles began to publish articles in the newspaper, publicizing what was being done to the Ponca tribe. The articles caught the attention of Tibbles’ former college peer, John Lee Webster, who was an attorney at the time (Wendzillo). Webster volunteered to take on the case pro bono and defend the Ponca tribe members in court. Webster then called upon one of his colleagues, Andrew J. Poppleton, who agreed to work with him on the case (Wendzillo). Webster filed for the rights of the tribe, and sued the government for writ of habeas corpus, which required the government to present the evidence against the Ponca Indians.

The Trial
Now that the members of the Ponca had lawyers in place, the only thing they needed before a trial could begin was a federal judge who would agree to hear the case. Judge Elmer S. Dundy was tracked down while he was grizzly bear hunting and asked to hear the Ponca’s case. Surprisingly he agreed; he was not particularly fond of Native Americans. In court, he would hear both sides of the narrative -- that of the Ponca members and that of the United States’ government -- and make a ruling.
“During the fifteen years in which I have been engaged in administering the laws of my country, I have never been called upon to gear or decide a case that appealed so strongly to my sympathy as the one now under consideration.” (U.S. Ex)
On the day the trial began, Standing Bear and the two other members of the Ponca tribe who were invited into the courtroom were bewildered. They didn’t know or understand the English language or courtroom proceedings. As prosecuting attorney Genio M. Lambertson and defense attorney Andrew J. Poppleton feuded over legalities, Standing Bear, dressed in a buckskin smock with a beaded belt, bear claw necklace and a red blanket, attempted to take it all in (Wendzillo). Arguments began among the opposing sides; witnesses were called to the stands and the case unfolded. Before the judge and through an interpreter, Standing Bear explained the circumstances that ended the Ponca’s journey and brought them to the court.
“But in the center of the path there stands a man. Behind him I see soldiers in number like the leaves of the trees. If that man gives me the permission, I may pass on to life and liberty. If he refuses, I must go back and sink beneath the flood.”(Nagle)
As the trial continued, the events became increasingly interesting. Standing Bear stood to speak in his defense. Still in his battered and torn traditional clothing, he stood, held out his hand, and waited for the room to fall silent. When the only sound in the room was the nearly inaudible sound of breathing, Standing Bear directed his vision and message towards Judge Dundy. He calmly stated with eloquence, “This hand is not the color of yours. But if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be the same color as yours. I am a man. The same God made us both (Wendzillo).” As he continued delivering his speech against the government to Judge Dundy, the awe and disbelief on the spectators’ faces continuously grew as he went on.
Judge Dundy began questioning not only the case, but his own principles as well. After listening to Standing Bear’s case, he did a simple thing; he searched the dictionary for the definition of a “person.” He found it read that a person was “a living soul, a self-conscious being, a moral agent, an individual of the human race.”
The Verdict
On