Political Quotes

“I rise today to celebrate the life and legacy of Chief Standing Bear. In about an hour, Members of the Nebraska congressional delegation, Governor Ricketts, and House and Senate leaders will gather in Statuary Hall to dedicate a statue in his honor. I am proud that the State of Nebraska put forth his statue because America needs to hear his story. When Joe Starita, a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and esteemed author, speaks on Chief Standing Bear's life, he often begins with reciting a quote from novelist, poet, and farmer Wendell Berry. Wendell Berry once wrote: If you do not understand where you are, you do not understand who you are. If you live in Nebraska, you understand this fully. This knowledge doesn't come from maps or directions. It springs from a true love of the land--working on it, cultivating it, raising a family, building strong communities, taking pride in your life's work, and the sweat and tears that generations of your family put into it. It means enduring its disasters and enjoying those cool peaceful nights full of stars. Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe understood this. Imagine his surprise when on a cold January day in 1877, he and his Tribe were told to leave their beloved land. His Tribe had lived on their reservation for more than 200 years, and now they were being forced to travel nearly 600 miles to the south to Indian territory in Oklahoma.…”