Walks on the Ground

Louis V. Headman (Ponca elder, Oklahoma) is the project coordinator of the Ponca Language Grant and pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Ponca City. He is a coauthor of Dictionary of the Ponca People (Nebraska, 2020). Sean O’Neill is a professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. He is a coauthor of Dictionary of the Ponca People (Nebraska, 2020).

"This superb history of the Ponca Nation is part of the University of Nebraska Press’s effort to publish First Nations’ histories written by native historians, rather than outsiders. . . . Throughout Headman amplifies, clarifies, and enriches topics, emphasizing Ponca as a distinct nation, though reduced in numbers over time. This substantial volume should be absorbed, not skimmed."-A. B. Kehoe, Choice “Headman positions himself as one in a long and ongoing chain of Ponca storytellers, and by bringing together voices of a prior generation of tribal elders and adapting those stories to a written format, Headman participates in the long history of Ponca resiliency and adaptation that Walks on the Ground narrates.”-David Dry, Chronicles of Oklahoma "There are many audiences for this volume, but, read in tandem with Headman's Dictionary of the Ponca People (2019), it speaks most powerfully to the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the Ponca people. Here are the embers left to rekindle Ponca culture and language!"-Beth R. Ritter, Great Plains Quarterly "Headman has produced an important work for the Great Plains region and for the growing literature of Indigenous-produced histories."-Phoebe Labat, South Dakota History “This book is a jewel because it presents an insider’s view drawn from the insights of Ponca elders with whom the author talked during many years while simultaneously bringing outside scholarly assessments into the mix. Specialists on the American Indian, whether anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, political scientists, or historians, as well as the general reader, will gain insights from the work.”-Blue Clark, professor of American Indian Studies at Oklahoma City University “A welcome model of how to do collaborative ethnography from within a culture and how to synthesize and evaluate information from multiple sources. . . . This volume, in an accessible way, leads the reader toward an understanding of how to see the Ponca as the Ponca see themselves.”-Regna Darnell, Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and First Nations Studies at the University of Western Ontario

• List of IllustrationsForewordSean O’NeillPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPhonetic Key1. Beginnings2. Niobrara3. Trade Agreements, Indian Treaties, and Indian Removal4. Chief Standing Bear5. Indian Territory6. The Selection of Ponca Chiefs7. The Ponca Reservation in Oklahoma8. Ethnography9. The Ponca Giveaway10. The Old Ponca HeđÚŠkÀ11. New HeđúŠkÀ Dance Paraphernalia12. The Ponca Singers13. Ponca HeđÚŠkÀ Songs14. Family Structure and Kinship System15. Marriage and Property16. Clans of the Ponca17. Ponca Names18. Toys, Games, and Sports19. Arts and Crafts20. The Ponca Native American Church21. The Christian Church in the Ponca Community22. The Spirit World23. The Funeral Rites24. Ancient Ponca Burials and Practices25. Ponca Medicine26. Journey to the School House27. Into the School House28. Warriors of the Ponca29. Political GovernanceAfterwordAppendix: U.S. Treaty Obligations to Indian TribesNotesBibliographyIndex