LINCOLN- On Monday, it was announced that Sen. Tom Brewer would receive the "Prize for Courage" at the Chief Standing Bear Project's annual Indigenous People's Day banquet on October 9th. Larry Dwyer, a board member on the Project and an author who was written about Standing Bear, said Brewer has been a "great leader" on Native American causes during his seven years in the Nebraska Legislature.

Those efforts include working to have a Standing Bear statue placed in the National Statutory Hall in the U.S. Capitol and renaming a state office building in Lincoln after a Ponca chief. On top of that, Brewer also worked to designate a 22-mile stretch of a hike-bike trail as "Chief Standing Bear Trail," to mark the route of the Ponca Tribe when it was removed from its reservation in northeast Nebraska in 1877.

The Chief Standing Bear Project was established to honor the titular Ponca Chief, who some argue was the "Martin Luther King" of civil rights for Native Americans. Standing Bear is famous for winning a court ruling in 1879 that recognized Native Americans as "persons" under U.S. law. The Courage Award was established last year, and was previously given to actor Wes Studi.

For the full article click HERE