Standing Bear Is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice [Paperback]

Stephen Dando-Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2005

In a federal courtroom in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1879, Standing Bear, clan chief of the small and peaceful Ponca tribe, was in court demanding the same basic right that white Americans enjoyed-the right to be recognized legally as a human being. The compelling, behind-the-scenes story of that landmark court case, and the subsequent reverberations of the judge's ruling across nineteenth-century America is told in Stephen Dando-Collin's "brisk and evocative account" (Kirkus). It is a story of memorable Old West characters who joined to fight for Standing Bear and paved his way to the courthouse-the former Indian-fighting Army general who changed sides to stand with Standing Bear, the crusading Midwestern newspaper editor who had once been a gun-toting frontier preacher, and the "most beautiful Indian maiden of her time," Bright Eyes. Full of colorful characters, battles of legal wits, and the twists and turns of a cause in search of an audience, Standing Bear Is a Person is a captivating read.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In 1877 the Ponca Indians were forcibly and illegally removed from their fertile croplands in Nebraska and taken to barren land in Oklahoma by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Standing Bear, a clan leader, told the BIA that the land was unsuitable for farming, and that the Ponca wished to return home. Their request was denied, and by the end of the year, 158 Ponca had died. Desperate, Standing Bear and 27 others decided to escape to the reservation of the Omaha, their cousins. Once there, Omaha chief Iron Eye, along with his daughter Susette, a school principal, met with Brigadier General George Crook, one of two white initiates to the Omaha Soldier Lodge brotherhood. These three then told their story to T. H. Tibbles, deputy editor of the Omaha Daily Herald, whose coverage inspired attorney John Lee Webster to represent Standing Bear. In re-creating this important chapter in Native American history, Dando-Collins captures the full drama of Standing Bear's struggle, which culminates in a riveting courtroom scene in which the judge rules in his favor. Rebecca Maksel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[A] smoothly written and gripping narrative...[with] clear and fast-paced prose." -- Kliatt, January 2006

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306814412
• ISBN-13: 978-0306814419
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,162,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Dando-Collins is the author of Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome, Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable Fourteenth Legion, Cleopatra's Kidnappers: How Caesar's Sixth Legion Gave Egypt to Rome and Rome to Caesar, and Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor. He is an Australian-born researcher, editor, and author who has spent the last three decades identifying and studying the individual legions of the Roman army of the late Republic and the empire of the Caesars.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtroom Drama with a Wealth of Background Info, October 31, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Standing Bear Is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice (Paperback)

You have to be a person to go to court. No matter what their actions horses, dogs and the like don't go to court. Neither did slaves, and until Standing Bear neither did an American Indian.

This book is a courtroom drama, backed up by a tremendous amount of background information on indian life in the late 1800's along the American western frontier. It's not a pretty tale, most of what happened to the indians was not pretty, but it's the truth as best we know it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Read" for anyone interested in Native American history, March 10, 2007

By 

Adobe T C "Dianne" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Standing Bear Is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice (Paperback)

It took me about 30 pages to get into this book, but I was hooked from then on. Despite extensive reading about Native American history, I had never known the process or participants involved in granting Native people their rights as citizens. This book is factual, thought-provoking, and alternately sad and uplifting, but most of all it is interesting. The chapter about the trial, which ends with Standing Bear's address to Judge Dundy and the courtroom audience, made me cry. If Native Americans were considered savages, then what were we. The simple eloquence of this "PERSON" , his wisdom and the true humanity he posessed can be found in his words documented in this book. An excellent read and a "Keeper".

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First-Rate story, December 8, 2005

By 

Gordon C. Rhea (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Standing Bear Is A Person: The True Story Of A Native American's Quest For Justice (Hardcover)

A friend recommended this book, and I am glad that I read it. This is a heart-felt tale of human determination to right a terrible injustice. The story of how American Indians came to be recognized by the courts as humans, and hence worthy of asserting their rights, is particularly timely in this era of indefinite detentions of "enemy combatants."