CAMBRIDGE, MA- A Harvard University museum has agreed to return to the Ponca people a ceremonial tomahawk that once belonged to Standing Bear. Once finalized, the move, which was requested by descendants of the legendary Ponca chief, as well as tribal leadership and the Nebraska Legislature, will mark the homecoming of an important part of Ponca history. The saga also could serve as an example of a nonconfrontational process for returning native belongings, according to members of the Ponca Tribe.

“I think this could be an example for sure,” said Larry Wright Jr., chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and a participant in the repatriation discussions. The Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma also are involved in the repatriation talks.

Calls to return the tomahawk emerged earlier this year when Brett Chapman, a lawyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, brought awareness to the fact that the tomahawk was at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Chapman, a descendant of Standing Bear, contended that the tomahawk should be returned to the Ponca people.

The Nebraska Legislature joined the chorus calling for the tomahawk’s return in May when it adopted, on a 42-0 vote, a resolution encouraging the Peabody Museum to fulfill commitments to repatriate native artifacts.

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