Ponca, a tribe of North-American Indians of Siouan stock. They were originally part of the Omaha tribe, with whom they lived near the Red River of the North. They were driven westward by the Dakotas, and halted on the Ponca river, Dakota. After a succession of treaties and removals they were placed on a reservation at the mouth of the Niobrara, where they were prospering, when their lands were forcibly taken fromthem, and they were removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). During the march thither and in their new quarters, the tribe's health suffered, so that in 1878 they revolted and made their way back to the Omahas. They were recaptured, but public attention having been drawn to their hard case they were liberated in 1880, after a long trial, which resulted in their being declared United States citizens. They number some 700, mostly in Oklahoma.
Ponca
