Explore the Description of this artwork, Statue of Standing Bear.
The bronze statue stands over 9 ft (2.7 m) high, on a low black granite pedestal. The subject is portrayed in traditional Native American clothing, with an eagle feather in his hair, a necklace of bear claws and two large Indian Peace Medals, and a pipe tomahawk in his left hand. The right hand is outstretched, to emphasize words spoken at the trial in May 1897 through his interpreter Susette La Flesche: "My hand is not the color of yours, but if I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you also feel pain. The blood that will flow from mine will be the same color as yours. The same god made us both. I am a man."
The front of the pedestal bears the inscription: "NEBRASKA/ CHIEF STANDING BEAR/ Manchú-Nanzhín/ c. 1829–1908", with quotations from Standing Bear's statement to the court inscribed on the sides.
There are two other bronze statues by Benjamin Victor in the National Statuary Hall Collection: a statue of Sarah Winnemucca donated by Nevada in 2005, and a statue of Norman Borlaug donated by Iowa in 2014.
Susette La Flesche statue National Statuary Hall Collection Benjamin Victor National Statuary Hall statue of Norman Borlaug pipe tomahawk Indian Peace Medal traditional Native American clothing Standing Bear statue of Sarah Winnemucca