Omaha
The Native Americans known as the Omaha traditionally lived along the Missouri River in what is now Nebraska. They were once part of a large Indian group that also included the Osage, Kaw, Quapaw, and Ponca.
The Omaha lived in permanent villages of earth lodges. They made these dwellings by covering a dome-shaped wooden frame with mud. Near their villages were fields of corn (maize), beans, squash, and other vegetables. The women of the tribe were responsible for planting, tending, and harvesting the crops.
Men contributed to the food supply by fishing and hunting. Twice a year they left their villages to hunt buffalo (bison). While on the hunt they lived in cone-shaped tepees covered with buffalo hides. They made farming tools from buffalo bones.
The Omaha were divided into ten clans. Each clan was part of one of two groups representing the earth or the sky. Earth clans performed ceremonies to ensure that they had plenty of food and were successful in war. Sky clans held ceremonies to ask for help from supernatural beings.
Under pressure mainly from Iroquois tribes, the people who became the Omaha moved down the Ohio River from their original homeland in the 16th century. Then they moved up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. They settled in what is now Nebraska.
The Omaha obtained horses in the 18th century and frequently fought Plains Indians such as the Sioux and the Pawnee. However, they generally lived in peace with non-Indian settlers who came to their lands. Through contact with whites, the tribe was introduced to smallpox and other diseases. An epidemic of smallpox in 1802 killed most of the tribe.
In 1854 the Omaha gave up most of their land to the United States government and agreed to settle on a reservation. Their chief, Joseph LaFlesche, wanted his people to adapt to non-Indian culture while retaining many of their traditional ways. Several of LaFlesche's children became famous in the late 19th century. Susan LaFlesche was the first Native American woman to earn a medical degree. Susette LaFlesche was a noted journalist, and Francis LaFlesche was a writer and anthropologist.
In the late 20th century the Omaha were leaders in the repatriation movement. Tribes involved in this movement asked museums to return objects sacred to Indian peoples. In 1989 the Omaha got back the tribe's Sacred Pole, which Francis LaFlesche had given to the Peabody Museum at Harvard University for safekeeping.
More than 4,000 Omaha lived in the United States at the end of the 20th century. Each year on their Nebraska reservation, the tribe hosts a powwow featuring performances of traditional dances.
