Thomas Tibbles

Thomas Henry Tibbles (1840-1928) was a journalist and author from Omaha, Nebraska who became an activist for Native American rights in the United States during the late nineteenth century.

About

As assistant editor of the Omaha Daily Herald, he was instrumental in bringing the case of Standing Bear and the Ponca Indian people before the United States District Court at Fort Omaha in 1879. This case was famous for its ruling that "an Indian is a person," with all the rights of full citizens. He was later married to Susette ("Bright Eyes") LaFlesche, a member of the Omaha tribe who had served as Standing Bear's interpreter at the trial. Tibbles was a witness to the aftermath of the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1891, and reported this tragedy to the world. From 1893-1895, he worked as a newspaper correspondent in Washington D.C. On returning to Nebraska, Tibbles became editor-in-chief of The Independent, a weekly Populist newspaper. He was the Populist Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904.

External links

* [http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0600/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0600/stories/0601_0106.html Nebraska studies: Trial of Standing Bear]
* [http://www.nebpress.com/700/socialr.html 700 Famous Nebraskans]
*cite book
title=Hidden Power
author=Thomas Henry Tibbles
year=1881
publisher=G. W. Carleton & Co.
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RdAbAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA11&dq=inauthor:Thomas+inauthor:Tibbles&as_brr=1#PPR1,M1
*cite book
title=The Ponca Chiefs
author=Thomas Henry Tibbles
year=1879
publisher=Lockwood, Brooks & Co.
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1RV-t7rY-XAC&pg=PA1&dq=inauthor:Thomas+inauthor:Tibbles&as_brr=1#PPP7,M1