A Lost Opportunity...

From Danielle Willmott, a fellow activist:

Ponca Chief Won't Appear on Nebraska State Quarter

Tribal members in Nebraska criticized Gov. Dave Heineman (R) on Wednesday for not picking Ponca Chief Standing Bear to appear on the state quarter.

'My heart is broken,' Donna Wendzillo, a member of the Ponca Tribe, told The Lincoln Journal Star.

Indian leaders had hoped Heineman would pick Standing Bear, whose landmark court case on behalf of Indian rights was celebrated just a few weeks ago. But instead the Republican chose Chimney Rock, a natural formation that symbolizes western expansion.

'I think this would have given an opportunity to make amends for the Manifest Destiny tragedies that befell our people,' Judi Morgan gaiashkibos, the director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, told the paper. She called Heineman's decision 'unconscionable' and an 'insult to Nebraska's first citizens.'

Mark Peniska, the chairman of the Ponca Tribe, questioned whether Heineman was under pressure not to choose a Native person. 'If it was just a political move, that would upset me,' he said.


Please send comments, otherwise he will never know how we feel.  I want this governor to know how we feel about this as Natives and non-Natives who are in support of Natives.  His intent on the quarter was to bring more visitors, so you might want to slip in that you will never go to that state as a result of his decision.  Email: http://gov.nol.org/mail/govmail.html