Bird Droppings July 16, 2026
Two Standing Bears

I was going through my library of books over the past week, looking for several references I used for my dissertation, and found this 1972 copy of The Ponca Chiefs. The following quote is from a courtroom dialogue about the first time Native Americans were legally recognized as people. The full title of the book is The Ponca Chiefs: an account of the trial of Standing Bear, by Thomas Henry Tibbles.

“On one side we have the representatives of this wasted race coming to this national tribunal asking for justice and liberty to enable them to adopt our boasted civilization and to pursue the arts of peace, which have made us great and happy as a nation. On the other side we have this magnificent, if not magnanimous, government, resisting this application with the determination of sending these people back to a country which is to them less desirable than perpetual imprisonment in their own native land.” Judge Dundy, 1879, Trial of Ponca Indians

I read through these words and thought immediately of the millions of human beings being treated this way in our own country yesterday. Not only our own native indigenous peoples but all of those coming here for a better life. Immediately, many of my friends say, “Come legally, and it’s ok.” Several proposals have been thrown out by the current powers to be. A gold card visa for two million dollars literally buying citizenship. That did not really take off, and from a legal standpoint, if you have money, it doesn’t matter. So many of the people being hunted and condemned came here for a better life, to escape political persecution, violence in their home countries, a new life, and so many other reasons. I recall seeing migrant workers outside Naples, Florida, back in the 1960s, picking fruit and vegetables. I also remember seeing the migrant camps that were literally hovels- one-sided sheds where multiple families lived, cooking over open fires and sleeping on the ground.

Recently I wrote a paper on sharecropping in the South after the Civil War. Migrant labor is actually a step below that. Pay only what is minimum and get the job done, send them on their way. Vegetables on your table from the USA are still mostly picked by migrant workers; many fruit crops are picked by migrant workers, and the great Pennsylvania mushroom industry is driven by migrant workers. A few years back Georgia got tough on migrant workers and many refused to come to Georgia for seasonal crops and farmers lost money. The farmers could not find local workers to pick crops. The then governor offered prisoner labor. One thing to remember is migrant workers know what they are doing they know what vegetable to pick when it is ripe and what fruit to pick most day laborers have not a clue.

Perhaps finding this book stemmed from a discussion I had a few years back about why the illegal immigration issue was such a political hot potato while the housing boom collapsed. Interesting in Georgia, nearly 70% of construction workers were Hispanic, as were a large percentage of all landscaping crews. Most areas were impacted: rock and brick laying, roofing, framing, anything with physical labor. Electrical, plumbing, and Air conditioning were not quite as impacted. Years ago, you could go by local banks on Friday afternoons, and there would be busy crew supervisors cashing large company checks and paying out large sums of cash to their workers.

I find this so confusing, perhaps, as in mainland China today, Chinese laborers are beginning to demand higher salaries and better conditions; American factories will start heading home. I still recall sitting in a meeting with a parent when someone said he couldn’t find work cause Mexicans work too hard (back in the boom time of construction), and he was a house framer.

I think back to a discussion about the poultry industry in nearby Hall County and how the processing plants have changed demographically over the years. Originally, the workers were White Mountain folk, and as segregation set in and workers demanded more money black workers took the place of white workers. About ten years back again, a change occurred as Hispanic workers took over most jobs in the processing plants. Those of you who watch “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe may have seen how bad working in a poultry plant really is. Perhaps you have lived alongside one and could barely breathe from the stench. I just paid ninety-nine cents a pound for chicken. I wonder what price that would have been if, for example, a union took over poultry processing and got wages up to United Steelworkers, which at one time were twenty-six dollars an hour starting. Chicken would be eight or ten dollars a pound on sale.

I am by no means saying this process is just or right. But in effect, we drive the process not much different than two hundred years ago when our ancestors started taking the West from the Native American peoples. We claim it because we have the right. I read in a blog earlier, “The God-given right.” Who benefits as we struggle with the immigration process? Who benefited two hundred years ago? The same people who are benefiting now are making fortunes from lands taken from tribes. It is those people who are using the labor of illegal immigrants to profit from. It is those companies that are getting unsolicited bids on government work, making money through greed and corruption of human dignity and concern. Many articles and stories of corruption on early reservations and even today as mineral rights are sold out from under the tribes for a pittance.

In 1879, a trial was held because the Ponca tribe had their land in South Dakota taken, along with houses, horses, cattle, hogs, farm implements, and literally all they had. They were forced to move to the Indian Territories in Oklahoma, where many died, and sadly this was a tale repeated over and over in early American history. Chief Standing Bear led his people back to their native lands, and they were again captured and forced into the Indian Territories. It was during this 1879 trial that Native Americans were first recognized as people. Sadly, as I look at dates, this was after the freeing of enslaved people. Americans at this time considered Native Americans less than enslaved people, not even human beings. If you look hard enough today, you will still find that in religions and societies in the US.

Over the years, I have come to reflect often on the Native American view of life. All is sacred and to be held in awe. As I looked for information on Standing Bear of the Ponca, I also found Chief Luther Standing Bear of the Oglala Lakota. Standing Bear was one of the first to be schooled at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Children were taken from their homes in the plains and elsewhere shipped to the school; their hair was shorn off, native attire was taken and western clothing provided, Indian names were not allowed, and “Christian” names were given. Children could only speak in American English and were punished for speaking their own languages. (That sounds familiar today in English-only politics). Standing Bear returned home to own a store and do well by most standards. He also was disturbed by the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee and began to write. His numerous books and articles were well received and addressed the treatment of native people.

‎ “No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota 1868-1939

” As a matter of truth, he was the most sympathetic of men, but his emotions of depth and sincerity were tempered with control. Silence meant to the Lakota what it meant to Disraeli, when he said, “Silence is the mother of truth,” for the silent man was ever to be trusted, while the man ever ready with speech was never taken seriously.” Chief Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota 1905-1939

As I sit here thinking and reflecting on these two men, one who was on trial for leaving his designated spot after his own land was taken away, and the other a speaker and writer of the Lakota way of life whose words resonate even today. Benjamin Disraeli said several years prior, “When little is done, little is said; silence is the mother of truth.” In my own reflection, how true this is. For many promises and treaties were written and spoken, and borrowing a line from the movie “Billy Jack,” as Billy Jack addressed his own trial, “of the seven hundred and twenty-three treaties written, all were broken, and you expect me to believe you now.” I wonder what if we got more involved politically. What if we voted for people who would be ethical in their choices and not mired in the greed of our society? So many thoughts for one day as I sit pondering along. As I have for nearly twelve years, I have ended my droppings for the day. Please keep all in harm’s way on your minds and in your hearts. Namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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