In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears”
Neligh, NE — In a first-of-its-kind ceremony on June 10th near Neligh, a Nebraska farmer signed a deed returning ancestral tribal land back to the Ponca Tribe — sacred land that lies on the historic Ponca “Trail of Tears.”
The land gifting ceremony and deed signing between farmers Art and Helen Tanderup, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska Chairman Larry Wright, Jr., and Ponca Nation of Oklahoma Councilwoman Casey Camp-Horinek took place on Sunday, June 10th, during an event that also included the 5th annual planting of sacred Ponca corn on the Tanderup farm. The event included Native singers and grass dancers, prayers on the land led by Mekasi Camp-Horinek, and the historic signing of the agreement gifting land on the Tanderup family farm to the Ponca Nation.
The farm just north of Neligh has been in Art and Helen Tanderup’s family for generations, and the tract of land that was gifted back to the Ponca has for the past five years been used to restore the Ponca Tribe’s sacred corn to the indigenous people’s ancestral homeland, following a 137-year absence — after the Tribe’s forced removal from their lands by the U.S. government along the “Trail of Tears” route that also crosses the Tanderup farm.
In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears” | Bold Nebraska
Neligh, NE — In a first-of-its-kind ceremony on June 10th near Neligh, a Nebraska farmer signed a deed returning ancestral tribal land back to the Ponca Tribe — sacred land that lies on the historic Ponca “Trail of Tears.”
The land gifting ceremony and deed signing between farmers Art and Helen Tanderup, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska Chairman Larry Wright, Jr., and Ponca Nation of Oklahoma Councilwoman Casey Camp-Horinek took place on Sunday, June 10th, during an event that also included the 5th annual planting of sacred Ponca corn on the Tanderup farm. The event included Native singers and grass dancers, prayers on the land led by Mekasi Camp-Horinek, and the historic signing of the agreement gifting land on the Tanderup family farm to the Ponca Nation.
The farm just north of Neligh has been in Art and Helen Tanderup’s family for generations, and the tract of land that was gifted back to the Ponca has for the past five years been used to restore the Ponca Tribe’s sacred corn to the indigenous people’s ancestral homeland, following a 137-year absence — after the Tribe’s forced removal from their lands by the U.S. government along the “Trail of Tears” route that also crosses the Tanderup farm.
In Historic First, Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to Ponca Tribe Along “Trail of Tears” | Bold Nebraska
