And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: link provided by Mary M...thanks..:) A day of spiritual healing -- Photo BY JODI RAVE Lincoln Journal Star http://www.journalstar.com/stories/top/stox NIOBRARA -- Louis Headman faced east Friday as he stood at the foot of the open grave that held the bones of his Ponca ancestors. He then broke into a traditional song that spoke of hard times that once fell upon his people. Headman, the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma's repatriation coordinator, was joined by about 35 tribal members on a balmy, 76-degree day near this northeastern Nebraska town. The group gathered to put their relatives to rest. "Today is a day of spiritual healing for the Ponca," said Linda Stolle, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska vice chairwoman. "We can all take pride and solace in knowing that we did the right thing in bringing our ancestors home." The Ponca are the first tribe to collect and rebury human remains from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln after UNL officials agreed in September to repatriate more than 1,600 individuals to 17 Midwestern tribes. Under the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, universities such as UNL were required to report their inventory of sacred objects, burial items and native remains to the National Park Service by November 1995. Ponca members picked up the human remains Thursday afternoon after a brief meeting with UNL Chancellor James Moeser. "I hope today's event will mark a new relationship between the university and your tribe," said Moeser, speaking to about a dozen people during a noon luncheon. Those present arrived at UNL to participate in prayers and a cedar-smudging of seven individuals -- two full skeletons and five partial ones -- that had been stored in cardboard boxes at a campus building. A number of tribal members praised UNL repatriation efforts. "The university has been wonderful to work with," said Phillip Wendzillo, cultural director for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. "Everything yesterday was handled in a dignified manner. They allowed us to do the ceremonies our way and in our own time frame." Since the remains were picked up, they have remained under the constant care of their Ponca relatives. Once the three boxes of bones were in the Poncas' possession, Ponca member Andy Tate placed them in a red, felt-lined cedar chest, which was supplied by the university at the tribe's request. When the remains arrived in Niobrara, tribal members kept a steady vigil, never leaving them alone as they rested in the chest inside the old Ponca Agency building, which was filled with the smoke of cedar. On Thursday evening, a fire burned outside the agency, serving as a beacon to guide restless spirits back to their bones. On Friday morning, the agency building began to fill as the Poncas prepared to give their relatives back to Mother Earth. After prayers, a procession coursed up a dirt road to the 125-year-old Ponca Cemetery. As she stood in the cemetery, high on a hill, Debbie Robinette of Verdigre recalled playing in the cemetery as a kid. "We were probably not supposed to play up here," she said, "but we were not afraid. We were taught death is not something to fear." Death, however, is something to be respected, she said. This is why tribal members embraced the return of their relatives to Mother Earth. The tribe wanted a private and simple ceremony to mark their relatives' return to the Creator. Headman was told by tribal elders to understate the reburial. "Do it simple. Don't do anything elaborate," he was told. And so it was. "Their spirits are going to be free from this day on," said Headman, after he sang his traditional age-old song. "That's the way God made it. Someone interrupted that for some reason we don't understand." Said Randy Ross, a Ponca/Otoe-Missouria Indian and executive director of the Lincoln Indian Center: "I'm privileged and honored to be here. It makes me feel good to bring them home and put them to rest." Friday's burial was the second time Andy Tate, who lives in Omaha, helped retrieve and rebury his Ponca ancestors. Two years ago his tribe repatriated about 30 skulls from the Smithsonian Museum. He said he feels no sense of closure from the most recent reburial. He said his work is never finished. "We only have a sliver of those ancestors back. Until we receive all tribal remains, not just from this country but from Germany, England, France -- every European country -- we'll be finished. Until then it's still a fight." Stolle, Ponca vice chairman, agreed. "It's been a long, sad frustrating journey to get where we are today," she said, recalling the story of Standing Bear. The Ponca chief left Indian Territory in Oklahoma so he could bury his son on traditional Ponca land in Nebraska. He was forced to appear in an Omaha courtroom in 1879, which resulted in a landmark civil rights case that determined that American Indians were human beings under the legal definition of the law. He was allowed to remain in Nebraska and rebury his son. "I have a feeling I know what Standing Bear went through when he wanted to bring his son home for reburial. I feel we had the same determination." Despite passage of more than a century, little has changed, she said. "Here we are, over a 100 years later. We're still struggling with the same issue." Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
