Volume 14 Number 3
JMay 1975

Charles E. Heerman

James Howard has determined that the Poncas, along with a number of other tribes, migrated from east of the Mississippi and settled along the Niobrara River in present-day Nebraska (see Reference 5). Helen H. Jackson has noted that the Lewis and Clark expedition made contact with the Poncas in their trek to the Northwest: Research and writing by James Howard, Helen H. Jackson, and Dee Brown confirm the following (see References 1, 5, and 7):

• During the early part of the nineteenth century pressure was brought to bear on the Ponca people to relinquish their Nebraska lands and resettle in Indian Territory.
• This pressure was intensified and articulated by the U.S. government through a series of treaties.
• Removal and relocation caused the Ponca people much hardship and suffering.
• Following the Poncas’ relocation in Indian Territory the passage and implementation of the Dawes Act stripped them of the bulk of their lands.

What of the Poncas today? The passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ended the depredations of the Dawes Act. For the Poncas, the Indian Reorganization Act was implemented through the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936. By 1950, the Ponca people had approved a tribal charter; ratified a tribal constitution and bylaws; and, had elected their first tribal council. The Bureau of Indian Affairs as chief representative of the Ponca people then began to relinquish control of the tribe to the tribal council.

Shortly thereafter the Poncas filed suit in federal courts seeking compensation for their abrupt removal from their Nebraska home. In the early 1970s, following 20 years of intensely fought litigation in the courts, the Ponca Tribe was awarded a settlement of roughly $3,000,000 for the loss of their lands.

Today, the Ponca people number between 1,800 and 1,900 and reside in and about the communities of White Eagle, Ponca City, and Marland in north-central Oklahoma. The membership is fairly cohesive with less than 20% having moved away. With the same measured momentum applied to winning the settlement, the Poncas have moved against other problems that plague them.

In the past, deficient housing, both in numbers and quality, has been a focal concern for the Poncas. The initial thrust at improving the housing picture was through a Housing Improvement Program (HIP). Through HIP the Poncas sought to renovate existing structures and to equip them with up-to-date sanitary facilities. Even with this program the Poncas found that their housing was inadequate.

In September, 1965, the Ponca Tribal Housing Authority (PTHA) was formed as an extension of the Ponca Tribal Council. Utilizing resources from the BIA, HUD, and Public Health, the PTHA set about to construct 200 homes in the categories of low rent and mutual help (see Chart I). The first phase was achieved in 1969. Since that time over half of the projected 200 homes have been completed.

Source: Interview. Executive Director, Ponca Tribal Housing Authority. December 6, 1972.

A second area of concern for the Ponca Tribal Council is the health of the Ponca people. The central problem for the Poncas is the distance factor. In order to avail themselves of the services of the Pawnee Indian Hospital, members of the Ponca Tribe must travel from 80 to 100 miles miles round trip. The Ponca Tribal Council has recognized this problem and has created the "Ponca-Mini-Hospital and Clinic Committee," located in the White Eagle community.

The employment picture for the Ponca people does not seem to be particularly glowing. The Pawnee Agency reported for 1971 a composite unemployment ratio of 77% for the Kaw, Otoe-Missouri, Pawnee, Ponca, and Tonkawa tribes. In addition, the Pawnee Agency for 1971 reported a combined unemployment/underemployment ratio of 81% for these tribes (see Reference 10). Closely related to employment data is the issue of income level. The mean per family income reported for the Ponca people for 1969 was $1,212 (see Reference 10). For that same year, the average per household income for Ponca City was set at $9,972 (see Reference 9).

Again, the Ponca Tribal Council has recognized the problem of unemployment and has created a formal structure to deal with this problem. In March, 1972, the Council delegated several business functions to the newly created office of Tribal Business Manager. Along with this office the Tribal Council created the Ponca Tribal Development Authority, a five-member board.

Along with building a formal structure for community development the Poncas have generated a second level of awareness. This awareness involves the realization that the Poncas as a people have a considerable worth and can make a contribution. This is due in no small part to the efforts of the late Clyde Warrior.

Warrior's initial action took place in April, 1968, when he launched a voter drive for the purpose of putting a Native American member of the White Eagle community on the school board of the White Eagle School. A report published by the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development describes that particular situation.

Warrior’s drive was successful. What was the reaction to this? The school was closed in 1969, and the children which had attended White Eagle School were bused into the Ponca City Schools. During the Spring of 1969, incidents were reported of Indian students being harassed and manhandled by bus drivers. Ponca parents held a series of meetings out of which came the Parent’s Advisory Committee for the Ponca Tribe. The Parents’ Advisory Committee was able to influence the Ponca City Schools to adopt the use of Johnson-O’Malley money for hiring aides for the schools. The aides are members of the Ponca Tribe. The committee continues in the capacity of advising the Ponca City Schools on Johnson-O’Malley expenditures, Indian aides, and other matters concerning Ponca children. While the foregoing represents a step forward to self realization and unity, it does not appear that the committee has been internalized into the formal tribal structure.

Should the Ponca people designate a formal structure to deal with the educational issues which affect the tribal membership? This question could best be approached by considering the need for a formal structure.

Two studies were conducted at about the same time of the Ponca Tribe and education. In 1967, the National Indian Youth Council contracted with the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development to study the education of Indian children at ten sites in the United States. White Eagle, the recognized community of the Poncas, was one of the sites. The resultant report, Who Should Control Indian Education? documents the previously described situation in which Ponca parents moved to community control of the White Eagle elementary school (see Reference 8).

The Ponca people were also included in the National Study of American Indian Education. This study, like the report of the Far West Laboratory, describes the educational problems of the White Eagle community in conjunction with the elementary school. Further, the study describes problems encountered by Ponca Indian students in the Ponca City secondary schools. Citing the influence of the oil industry, the report describes the Anglo middle-class orientation of the city and of the schools. The report suggests that many Ponca students encounter problems in these schools because of a different value orientation (see Reference 4).

What specifically happens to Ponca children? A survey conducted by a BIA social worker is most revealing. The study consisted of following up on 139 Indian students who entered the first grade at White Eagle elementary school during the years 1955-1958. The dropout rate before graduation from high school was 65%. Of the 35% which finished high school, 22% graduated from public school, or 7.7% of the 139. The remaining 78% graduated from Indian boarding schools. This group represented 28.3% of the original 139. The distribution by grade level of the 65% dropouts follows:

With the dropout rate in mind, a look at what has happened to the 139 first graders is in order. Forty-four at the time of the study were chronically unemployed. A large number had served time in some sort of correctional institution. Twenty-six were married to a more or less regularly employed person. Twenty-three were more or less regularly employed. Seventeen were in prison, while nine were confirmed alcoholics. Six of the original 139 were in job training of some kind, while five were in the military service. Five were deceased, and, finally, four were in some type of custodial institution such as mental hospitals, state schools, or nursing homes. Perhaps the most startling aspect of this study is that all of the 139 subjects had not reached their 25th birthday when the study was completed March 26, 1971 (see Reference 3).

For over 300 years the Ponca people have been in the process of becoming--of becoming a strong and viable people, separate from the mainstream. In the late 19th century, the Poncas underwent removal and relocation. In 1937, Ellsworth Collings wrote of the Ponca people:

More than 30 years have passed since Collings' observation. The 101 Ranch is now a memory. The Poncas remain. More than that, they have regenerated a spirit of community development which seemingly guarantees their existence. While the Poncas have developed formal programs for housing, health and employment, they seem satisfied to deal with education problems through an informal ad hoc structure. The question has been posed: Should the Ponca people designate a formal structure to deal with educational issues that affect the tribal membership?

No doubt the educational studies reported herein bear heavily on this issue. If problems persist in tribal education and data continue to indicate educational failures, then the Ponca will probably consider a formal structure for education.

Continued success in the areas of housing, health and employment will further give impetus to adopting a formal structure for education. This success, in effect, will serve to magnify the educational problems. Also, improvement in these areas will facilitate confidence in attempting a formal structure for education.

When one considers the measured momentum by which the Poncas have attacked other problems the question probably becomes academic. For the present, the prospects for the Poncas of Ponca City remain about as they are described herein. It can be concluded that the Poncas of Ponca City are a people in the process of becoming--of developing a community facing neither imminent disaster nor unbounded hope for the future.

1. Brown, D. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. New York: Bantam Books, 1972.

2. Collings, E. The 101 Ranch. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1937.

3. Fite, B. L. Unpublished study. Ponca City, Oklahoma, March 26, 1971.

4. Fuchs, E. and R. J. Havighurst. To Live on This Earth. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1972.

5. Howard, J. H. The Ponca Tribe. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, 1965.

6 Interview. Executive Director, Ponca Tribal Housing Authority. December 6, 1972.

7 Jackson, H. H. Century of Dishonor. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1881.

8 McKinley, F., S. Bayne, and G. Nimnicht. Who Should Control Indian Education? Tempe, Arizona: National Indian Training and Research Center, 1970.

9 Ponca City Chamber of Commerce. "Statistical Data, Economic Growth Factors." Ponca City, Oklahoma, 1972.

10 Ponca Tribe of Indians. "Overall Economic Plan for the Ponca Tribal Lands." 1972.