Omaha (tribe)

For other uses, see Omaha (tribe) (disambiguation).

Omaha
Total population
6,000
Regions with significant populations
United States (Nebraska)
Languages
English, Omaha
Religions
Christianity, other
Related ethnic groups
other Siouan peoples

The Omaha tribe is a Native American tribe that currently reside in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States. The Omaha Indian Reservation lies primarily in the southern part of Thurston County and northeastern Cuming County, Nebraska, but small parts extend into the northeast corner of Burt County and across the Missouri River into Monona County, Iowa. Its total land area is 796.355 km² (307.474 sq mi) and a population of 5,194 was recorded in the 2000 census. Its largest community is Pender.

During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Omaha were briefly the most powerful Indians on the Great Plains. The tribe was the first in that region to master equestrianism, and developed an extensive trade network with early white explorers and voyageurs. Never known to take up arms against the U.S., members of the tribe assisted the U.S. during the American Civil War.

Omaha, Nebraska, the largest city in Nebraska, is named after them.

Language

The Omaha speak a Siouan language which is very similar to that spoken by the Ponca, who were once a part of the Omaha before splitting off into a separate tribe in the mid 1700s.

History

The Omaha tribe began as a larger woodland tribe comprising both the Omaha and Quapaw tribes. This original tribe inhabited the area near the Ohio and Wabash rivers around the year 1700.^{[citation needed]}

As the tribe migrated west it split into what became the Omaha tribe and the Quapaw tribe. The Quapaw settled in what is now Arkansas and the Omaha tribe, known as U-Mo'n-Ho'n ("Dwellers on the Bluff"). settled near the Missouri River in what is now northwestern Iowa. Conflict with the Sioux and the splitting off of part of the tribe into the Ponca, forced the Omaha tribe to retreat to an area around Bow Creek in northeastern Nebraska in 1775, settling near present day Homer, Nebraska.

French fur trappers found the Omaha on the eastern side of the Missouri River in the mid-1700s. The Omaha were believed to have ranged from the Cheyenne River in South Dakota to the Platte River in Nebraska. Lewis and Clark found the tribe on the western side of the Missouri south of present-day Sioux City, Iowa in 1804.

Chief Blackbird was the leader of the Omaha from the late 1770s until his death during a smallpox epidemic in 1800. Under his leadership, the tribe became the most powerful in the region. Chief Blackbird established trade with the Spanish and French and used trade as a security measure to protect his people. The Omaha became the first tribe to master equestrianism on the Great Plains, which gave them a temporary superiority over the Sioux and other larger tribes as far as hunting and movement. Aware they traditionally had a lack of a large population to protect themselves from neighboring tribes, Chief Blackbird believed that fostering good relations with white explorers and trading were the keys to their survival. The village of Tonwantongo was home to Chief Blackbird and another 1,100 people around the year 1795. The Spanish built a fort nearby and traded regularly with the Omaha during this period. In 1800, a smallpox epidemic killed Chief Blackbird and at least 400 more residents in Tonwantongo. When Lewis and Clark visited Tonwantongo in 1804, most of the inhabitants were gone on a buffalo hunt and they ended up meeting with the Oto indians instead, however they were led to Chief Blackbird's gravesite before they continued on their expedition west.

Omaha villages were established and lasted from 8 to 15 years. Eventually, disease and Sioux aggression forced the tribe to move south. Villages were established near what is now Bellevue, Nebraska and along Papillion Creek between 1819 and 1856.

Loss of land

In 1856, Logan Fontenelle translated the negotiations which led the Omaha to sell their lands to the United States. During the same negotiations the tribe agreed to move to their present reservation to the north in Thurston County, Nebraska. Soon after Fontenelle was killed in a skirmish with the Brule and Arapaho. By the 1870s, bison were fast disappearing from the plains and the Omaha had to increasingly rely upon the United States Government and its new culture.

The Omaha never took up arms against the U.S., and several members of the tribe fought for the Union during the American Civil War, as well as each subsequent war through today.

Culture

In pre-settlement times, the Omaha had a very intricately developed social structure that was closely tied to the people's concept of an inseparable union between sky and earth. This union was viewed as critical to perpetuation of all living forms and pervaded Omaha culture. The tribe was divided into two moieties, Sky and Earth people. Sky people were responsible for the tribe's spiritual needs and Earth people for the tribe's physical welfare. Each moiety was composed of five clans.

Earth Lodges

Omaha beliefs were symbolized in their dwelling structures. During most of the year Omaha Indians lived in earth lodges, ingenious structures with a timber frame and a thick soil covering. At the center of the lodge was a fireplace that recalled their creation myth. The earthlodge entrance faced east, to catch the rising sun and remind the people of their origin and migration upriver. The circular layout of tribal villages reflected the tribe's beliefs. Sky people lived in the north half of the village, the area that symbolized the heavens. Earth people lived in the south half which represented the earth. Within each half of the village, individual clans were carefully located based on their member's tribal duties and relationship to other clans. Earth lodges were as large as 60 feet in diameter and might hold several families, even their horses.

As the tribe migrated westward from the Ohio River region, the woodland custom of bark lodges was replaced with tipis (borrowed from the Sioux) and earth lodges (borrowed from the Pawnee). Tipis were used primarily during buffalo hunts and when relocating from one village area to another. They would sleep in lodges during the winter.

Communities

• Bancroft (part, population 3)
• Macy
• Pender
• Rosalie
• Walthill

Chiefs

• Blackbird
• Big Elk
• Logan Fontenelle
• Iron Eye

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Omaha Reservation, Nebraska/Iowa United States Census Bureau

External links

• Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. Mainpage. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
• Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. Blackbird Scenic Overlook. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
• Reinhard, Karl J., Dennis Hastings. Introduction. Learning From the Ancestors. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
• Irving, Washington. Washington Irving's Astoria. Astoria or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
• National Park Service. Lewis and Clark Historical Background. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
• Campbell, Paulette W.. Ancestral Bones Reinterpreting the Past of the Omaha. Retrieved 2006-07-13.

Credits

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