Year of Object(s) Creation: 1850 C.E. (approximate)
Estimated Value ($USD):
Object Type(s): Axe, Weapon
Object Material(s): metal, stone, wood
Provenience Nation: United States Tribal Nations
Provenience Location:
Year Removed from Findspot:

Provenance
Start Year: 2022
End Year:
Circumstance of Acquisition: Negotiation
Nation: United States Tribal Nations
Location: Ponca Tribe
Start Year: 1982
End Year: 2021
Circumstance of Acquisition: Unknown
Nation: United States
Location: Harvard University Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
Start Year: 1879
End Year:
Circumstance of Acquisition: Given by Chief Standing Bear to Attorney John Lee Webster
Nation: United States
Location: Oklahoma
Start Year:
End Year: 1879
Circumstance of Acquisition: Origin
Nation: United States Tribal Nations
Location: Ponca Tribe, Oklahoma

Indigenous Ponca Tribe Chief Standing Bear’s Pipe Tomahawk


Description:


Case Status: Object(s) relinquished
Year Claim Initiated: 2021
Year Claim Resolved: 2022
Means of Resolution: Inquiry/Demand

Complainant Name: Ponca Tribe descendants of Chief Standing Bear
Complainant Nation: United States Tribal Nations
Complainant Nation Economy: Developing
Complainant Type: Private: Individual

Respondent Name: Harvard University Peabody Museum
Respondent Nation: United States
Respondent Nation Economy: Developed
Respondent Type: Private: Institution

Reference Links:

Files:

Editor's Notes:
Chief of the Ponca Tribe Standing Bear won a 1879 court case affirming the legal personhood of Native Americans, and thanked one of his two attorneys, John Lee Webster, by gifting him his pipe tomahawk. Campaign was started by Nebraska state senator and Oglala Sioux tribe member Tom Brewer and staffer Charles R. Clark who drafted a legislative resolution for Harvard University. Edited by Arianne Ohara