NEWSEUM PRESENTS STAGED READING OF ‘WAAXE’S LAW’

Performance will feature dramatic retelling of the first federal court decision to declare Native Americans to be “persons” under the law

WASHINGTON — The Newseum will host a performance of “Waaxe’s Law” in the museum’s Walter and Leonore Annenberg Theater on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, at 7:30 p.m.

In 1879, a Ponca Indian chief stood up, extended his hand, and made one of the greatest arguments for equality under the law in the history of the United States. Chief Standing Bear demanded that a federal court afford him the same rights as whites under the law, despite the fact that his skin was a different color.

Cherokee playwright and attorney Mary Kathryn Nagle wrote “Waaxe’s Law,” a play that tells the story of the forced removal of the Ponca tribe to present-day Oklahoma and Chief Standing Bear’s subsequent journey for justice — a journey that resulted in the first federal court decision declaring Indians to be “persons” under the law. Although Chief Standing Bear won his fight for equality in 1879 — a full 75 years before the Supreme Court issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education — very few Americans know of his story or the freedoms he won for Native Americans. Continue reading →