Today we interview Joe Starita about his book, I Am A Man. This book describes the real life story of Ponca Chief Standing Bear. He was a man who just wanted to live peaceably, with his tribe, on their ancestral homeland that was deeded to them by the U.S. government in a treaty. However, government mistakes, prejudice, and people following orders from their superiors led to the Ponca being stripped of their Nebraska homeland in 1877, many deaths on their journey to a reservation in Oklahoma, and eventually Chief Standing Bear’s suit against the federal government, the first time a Native American had been allowed to testify in a US courtroom. And he won. It’s really a remarkable story, but also a heartbreaking one. Joe Starita, author of I Am a Man, beautifully conveys how important their Nebraska homeland was to the Ponca and how poorly they were treated. He also helps us understand all the legal and bureaucratic issues and the importance of Chief Standing Bear’s lawsuit and its ramifications. Joe Starita, our guest today, is a professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Before joining the journalism faculty, Starita spent 13 years at the Miami Herald and served as the paper's New York bureau chief and was also on the Investigations Team where he was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in local reporting. He is also the author of The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge - A Lakota Odyssey about five generations of a Native American family. That book has been translated into six languages and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. I Am a Man was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2009. His most recent book is A Warrior of the People, which tells the story of Susan La Flesche, the first Native American medical doctor. Starita has received many awards for his work including the Chief Standing Bear Humanitarian Award from the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs and a national civil rights award from the National Education Association. Joe tells us that the date we recorded the episode (June 25, 2023) is the 147th anniversary of the Little Big Horn. Crazy Horse (Lakota) and his warriors wiped out General Custer and his soldiers at this battle. Linda notes Joe’s previous book, The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge, also focused on Great Plains Native Americans. She asks Joe what precipitated his interest in Native Americans. Joe explains his interest in Native Americans was sparked as a young boy when his family visited Fort Robinson, Nebraska, where Crazy Horse was bayoneted in the back by an Army private at this Army base. Joe tells us the footprint of native peoples is wide, especially in Western states, where many states’ names are adaptations of native names. As Joe grew up, he became more interested in how our dominant culture has subsumed the native cultures of the 547 remaining tribes. Joe notes that native cultures are “we-based” rather than our “me-based” culture. Joe describes the context of Chief Standing Bear’s tribe as they were forcibly marched from northeast Nebraska to Oklahoma. Their displacement from their homeland stole their identity from them. The move also cost the lives of over one-third of the tribe, including Chief Standing Bear’s son, Bear Shield. Before Bear Shield died, he asked his father to return him to their homelands. Nancy asks Joe about the research he undertook. She notes that I Am a Man delves into so many aspects of the story of Chief Standing Bear - cultural, historical, legal, agricultural, religious. Joe also sprinkled in interviews with modern day Ponca tribe members. Joe said it helps to have an obsessive personality! He tells us that he was introduced to the full story of Chief Standing Bear by a Ponca friend at a three-hour lunch. From there, he immediately figured out how to clear his schedule so that he could tell this story. He even spent an isolated month in Italy so that he could fully focus on the pivotal Color of Blood chapter without interruption. He also talks about the importance of rhythm in writing – that writing should be musical, in a way. He told us he spent about a year and a half reading and researching everything about Chief Standing Bear that he could. He researched state historical societies, the national archives, public libraries, and genealogies. The style of writing in this book is narrative non-fiction which he describes as using the tools of fiction writing but to tell a true story. His goal is to rivet his readers with the story by getting out of the way and taking them where the story lives, such as into the tent of White Buffalo Girl’s mother. Joe explained that Chief Standing Bear’s appearance in that federal courthouse was important given it took place just three years after the Little Big Horn where there was still much hostility directed at all native people. They were seen as roadblocks to progress that must be destroyed. Joe explained how stars lined up including Brigadier General George Crook’s decision to notify a newspaper editor of the Ponca’s plight, the newspaper editor’s stories which were read by one of the most prominent attorneys in Nebraska who decided to take on the case and convince a rising young attorney to join him, and finally the judge who set aside his prejudice against Native Americans who recognized the strength of Chief Standing Bear’s integrity and love of his son, leaving him unable to rule against his humanity. This ruling led to the 1924 grant of citizenship to Native Americans with the right to vote. Joe painted the challenge Native American chiefs face in the last quarter of the 19th century – fighting to the death or merging their values with the dominant culture. Chief Standing Bear chose the latter -- sending his son to White school to learn the language and history and ways of the dominant culture while also holding onto Ponca values. The Ponca were far more assimilated than the vast majority of tribes. It was a point of pride among them that no Ponca had ever harmed a White person. This enraged the Lakota who tormented and conducted murderous raids on them. The Ponca were farmers who even taught the pioneers agricultural practices and kept them from starving. Joe notes that many people have not been taught the story of Chief Standing Bear. But it has become a powerful story because Chief Standing Bear represents so many of the values that are important to us: honesty, integrity, love of family. He was an extraordinary person who did extraordinary things for love of his people and of his son. Joe also told us about Academy Award winner Jim Sheridan’s interest in this story and interest in developing a movie based on it. Joe is most excited about what this elevation of Chief Standing Bear means to young Native Americans who are proud of him and their history and how he is beginning to be honored. Linda asked about the Chief Standing Bear Journey for Justice Scholarship Fund Joe established in 2012 which annually awards scholarships to Nebraska Native American high school graduates. Joe said he wanted to find a vehicle to make post-secondary education financially viable to Native Americans who are some of the poorest people in Nebraska who also have the highest suicide rate. He told us of several young native people who have been awarded scholarships and are now engineers and nurses and accomplishing remarkable things. Nancy got teary at Joe’s description of the scholarships. Linny got teary at the way that Chief Standing Bear has become a role model for her.