Ponca Fort facts for kids
Nanza is the original name the Ponca people gave to a special place now known as Ponca Fort. It was a strong, protected village built by the Ponca around the year 1700. People lived there until about 1865.
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Where Was Ponca Fort?
Nanza was built near where the Ponca Creek joins the Niobrara River in what is now Nebraska, USA. This spot is west of where the Niobrara River flows into the big Missouri River. Today, the site is in Knox County, Nebraska, close to a town called Verdel.
Why Was Nanza Important?
Nanza was a very important home for the Ponca people. They built it to keep themselves safe from other tribes like the Arikaras, Cheyennes, or Apaches. The village had special homes called earth lodges, which were houses built partly underground.
Around the village, there were several old cemeteries. These were likely created when diseases spread after Europeans arrived in the area. Today, Ponca Fort is on private land.
What Did Nanza Look Like?
Archaeologists, who are like history detectives, find Nanza very interesting. It reminds them of old, strong towns built by the Middle Mississippian people in Ohio long ago.
Nanza had many earth lodge sites, all surrounded by a protective wall. This wall might have been about six feet tall. Even today, you can still see parts of this old wall.
Archaeologists have dug at the site and found out more about its defenses. There was a ditch about three feet deep and ten feet wide around the village. Inside this ditch, there was an earth mound that supported a tall fence made of posts, called a palisade.
What Did People Find at Nanza?
When archaeologists dug at Ponca Fort, they found many interesting items. They found things from Europe like guns, hatchets, knives, beads, kettles, and cloth. These items show that Nanza was an important place for trading furs with Europeans.
They also found proof of trade with other Native American tribes. They discovered pottery, stone hammers, grinding stones, bone knives, hoes, and even rolls of tree bark from places as far away as the southeastern United States. This shows that the Ponca people at Nanza were connected to many different communities.
A Historic Place
Because of its importance, Ponca Fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1973. This means it is recognized as a special place in American history.
