To Larry Wright Jr., Chief Standing Bear’s legacy is worthy of celebration, especially as Nebraska marks its 150th anniversary of statehood. After being exiled from Nebraska, the Ponca Tribe chief and 29 others trekked hundreds of miles back to bury the body of Standing Bear’s teenage son, whose dying wish was to be laid to rest in his beloved homeland.

Standing Bear’s subsequent arrest and trailblazing civil rights trial made history when a federal judge in Omaha ruled that American Indians were people under the law. “That’s the story of Nebraska,” Wright, chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, said Thursday. “It doesn’t matter what color of skin you are, what shape you are. That’s a story that resonates with any parent. That’s Nebraska.”