Nanyehi Nancy Ward

Nanyehi Nancy Ward was born to the Cherokee town of Chota, what is now Tennessee in 1738.  In 1752,  she fought against the Creek Nation in a local tribal dispute. For her courage on the battlefield she was awarded a seat alongside the war and peace chiefs.  She was the only woman with a vote in their governing political body.  After marrying an English trader named Bryan Ward,  she settled in South Carolina and raised a family.  Like most tribal communities of the time, the Cherokee Nation was divided over the ongoing conflict with the American Revolution.  Nanyehi was determined to protect and settle any disputes between settlers and natives.  In 1781, she worked to broker a treaty and end the continuous fighting.  She was an advocate for peace and courageous leader.  Nanyehi believed that peace would only come if Native Americans and English settlers saw themselves as one people.  

Chief Standing Bear

Chief Standing Bear, leader of the Ponca tribe, was recently memorialized on a forever stamp.  He was a Native American civil rights hero.  In 1879 Standing Bear was arrested in an effort to bury his son in his Chief's homeland.  While in jail he petitioned a federal court because he was being unlawfully detained.  The United States government argued that he was not entitled to the same constitutional rights as every other citizen.  Standing Bear's lawyers argued the Ponca people were entitled to the same rights as every other citizen citing the fourteenth Amendment.  In a speech before the court, Chief Standing Bear said through an interpreter, "That hand is not the color of yours, but if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be the same color as yours. I am a man. The same God made us both."  The federal judge agreed with Standing Bear ordering the release of Standing Bear and his people.  This stamp is a great tribute to a very brave leader.