Ponca - Oklahoma

Oklahoma

After the 1877 forced relocation onto the Quapaw Reservation in Indian Territory, the tribe moved west to their own lands along the Arkansas and Salt Fork Rivers. The full-bloods formed a tipi village, while the mixed-bloods settled about Chikaskia River. During opposition by Ponca leadership, the US government began dismantling tribal government under the Curtis Act. In an attempt to encourage assimilation (and to allow Oklahoma to become a state), they allotted reservation lands to individual members under the Dawes Act in 1891 and 1892. Any land remaining after allotment was made available for sale to non-natives.

After Oklahoma achieved statehood, some remaining Ponca land was leased or sold to the 101 Ranch, where many Ponca people found employment. The 1911 discovery of oil on Ponca lands provided revenues but had mixed results. There were environmental disasters as oil refineries dumped waste directly into the Arkansas River.

In 1918, two Ponca men, Frank Eagle and Louis McDonald, helped co-found the Native American Church.

In 1950 the tribe organized a new government under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. They adopted their tribal constitution on 20 September 1950.

Today the tribe is headquartered in White Eagle, Oklahoma. It conducts business from Ponca City. The Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma has over 4200 members.