Impact
This case was incredibly important to Native American culture, as it was a turning point for Native Americans everywhere. The outcome of the case, as shown on the previous page, showed that under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution "an Indian who was born in this country and who did not owe allegiance to any other form of government, is a citizen beyond all dispute." When the judge made his final decision to grant Standing Bear the rights he deserved, it showed that Native Americans were more than "Uncle Sam's Stepchildren." Another benefit that Standing Bear and the Ponca tribe won was that they were given back the land that they had formerly owned in Nebraska. The United States Congress also gave the tribe money to compensate them for all that had happened. Since the ruling made by Judge Dundy only applied to Standing Bear, some of the other Native Americans, including Standing Bear's brother, Big Snake, thought they were free to rome as they pleased as well. In Big Snake's case, he refused to return to the reservation, just as his brother had. Instead of calmly resisting, Big Snake grew violent and was shot. Although that unfortunate death occurred, the decision in Standing Bear's case would become a catalyst for Native American rights in the future. This trial later paved the way for Congress to pass the Citizenship Act. The Citizenship Act allows any Native American that is born in the United States to become a U.S. citizen.