Bloomberg Law Profiles Katie Brossy on Pro Bono Efforts to Secure Placement of Ponca Chief Statue in U.S. Capitol
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Bloomberg Law has profiled the pro bono efforts of Akin Gump American Indian law and policy practice senior counsel Katie Brossy in the article “Akin Gump Lawyer Scores Personal Victory in Tribal Statue Effort.” Brossy, a member of the Native American Ponca tribe, was instrumental, the article reports, in securing a spot in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall for a statue of Ponca Tribe Chief Standing Bear.
The statue is due to be dedicated and formally unveiled today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Nebraska’s governor and others from Nebraska’s congressional delegation in attendance. Nebraska was the homeland of the Ponca tribe until the 1870s, when the tribe was forcibly removed to a site in Oklahoma.
Brossy told Bloomberg how moved she was when the statue was unboxed to a small group last weekend. “As a Ponca person, I got to welcome him into the Capitol,” she said.
Discussing the near year and a half-long effort of securing federal approval of the statue, Brossy added, “This has been a story about family and a love of nation. It’s been personal to me from the very beginning.”
To learn more about Brossy’s efforts, please click here.