Walks on the Ground: A Tribal History of the Ponca Nation

"There are many audiences for this volume, but, read in tandem with Headman's Dictionary of the Ponca People (2019), it speaks most powerfully to the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the Ponca people. Here are the embers left to rekindle Ponca culture and language!"—Beth R. Ritter, Great Plains Quarterly

"Headman has produced an important work for the Great Plains region and for the growing literature of Indigenous-produced histories."—Phoebe Labat, South Dakota History

"This superb history of the Ponca Nation is part of the University of Nebraska Press’s effort to publish First Nations’ histories written by native historians, rather than outsiders. . . . Throughout Headman amplifies, clarifies, and enriches topics, emphasizing Ponca as a distinct nation, though reduced in numbers over time. This substantial volume should be absorbed, not skimmed."—A. B. Kehoe, Choice

"Headman positions himself as one in a long and ongoing chain of Ponca storytellers, and by bringing together voices of a prior generation of tribal elders and adapting those stories to a written format, Headman participates in the long history of Ponca resiliency and adaptation Walks on the Ground narrates."—David Dry, Chronicles of Oklahoma

“This book is a jewel because it presents an insider’s view drawn from the insights of Ponca elders with whom the author talked during many years while simultaneously bringing outside scholarly assessments into the mix. Specialists on the American Indian, whether anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, political scientists, or historians, as well as the general reader, will gain insights from the work.”—Blue Clark, professor of American Indian Studies at Oklahoma City University

“A welcome model of how to do collaborative ethnography from within a culture and how to synthesize and evaluate information from multiple sources. . . . This volume, in an accessible way, leads the reader toward an understanding of how to see the Ponca as the Ponca see themselves.”—Regna Darnell, Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and First Nations Studies at the University of Western Ontario

List of Illustrations
Foreword
Sean O’Neill
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Phonetic Key
1. Beginnings
2. Niobrara
3. Trade Agreements, Indian Treaties, and Indian Removal
4. Chief Standing Bear
5. Indian Territory
6. The Selection of Ponca Chiefs
7. The Ponca Reservation in Oklahoma
8. Ethnography
9. The Ponca Giveaway
10. The Old Ponca Heđúškà
11. New Heđúškà Dance Paraphernalia
12. The Ponca Singers
13. Ponca Heđúškà Songs
14. Family Structure and Kinship System
15. Marriage and Property
16. Clans of the Ponca
17. Ponca Names
18. Toys, Games, and Sports
19. Arts and Crafts
20. The Ponca Native American Church
21. The Christian Church in the Ponca Community
22. The Spirit World
23. The Funeral Rites
24. Ancient Ponca Burials and Practices
25. Ponca Medicine
26. Journey to the School House
27. Into the School House
28. Warriors of the Ponca
29. Political Governance
Afterword
Appendix: U.S. Treaty Obligations to Indian Tribes
Notes
Bibliography
Index