Standing Bear is a Person: The True Story of a Native American’s Quest for Justice

The only book about the landmark trial of Standing Bear, the first Native American Indian to be recognized legally as a person In a federal courtroom in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1879, Standing Bear, the 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-Collins brisk and evocative account (Kirkus). Standing Bear is a Person tells of the 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 the clan chief, 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 colourful 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.