Omaha

Member of an American Indian people, originally from the mid-Atlantic coast, who were pushed from Missouri to Nebraska by the Sioux in the late 17th century. They speak a Siouan language, and were allied to the Pawnee. They adopted aspects of the Plains Indians' hunter-warrior culture and lifestyle, but continued to farm and live in permanent villages in the summer. In 1854, they were granted a reservation in northeast Nebraska, where most now live. They number some 6,000 (2000). Farming, ranching, and gaming operations provide their main income. Most are Presbyterians, although the Native American Church, which uses the hallucinogenic peyote cactus in traditional medical ritual, has encouraged a cultural revival.

Traditionally, several related Omaha families lived together in large dome-shaped earth lodges in their farming settlements, and cultivated maize (corn), beans, and squash. In the autumn and winter they followed the buffalo herds, and used portable tepees covered in buffalo hides. They wore buckskin clothing and moccasins, and the men wore a scalp-lock, a long lock of hair left on the shaved head as a challenge to enemies, and plaited the rest of their hair either side of their head. Omaha society was hierarchical with a hereditary class system of chiefs, priests, medicine men, and commoners. The tribe consisted of ten patrilineal clans organized into two groups which represented the earth and the sky. Earth clans were responsible for ceremonies concerning food, war, and other material needs; while sky clans were in charge of securing the aid of the spirits. The Omaha, like other Plains Indians, awarded badges of honour for deeds of bravery and daring, such as touching an enemy in battle or stealing an enemy's tethered horse.

The Omaha originally lived on the Atlantic coast in Virginia and the Carolinas but some time before European contact they migrated westward to western Missouri, where they lived on both sides of the Mississippi River near present-day St Louis until the late 17th century. The Sioux then drove them further west and into Nebraska where they settled along the Missouri River under the protection of the Pawnee, and took up a Plains Indian way of life. Pressure from encroaching white settlement forced them to sell most of their land to the US government in 1854. Their reservation is the Omaha Indian Reservation. Although their language is still spoken, the Omaha have lost most of their other cultural traits through rapid assimilation into Western culture at the end of the 19th century. However, the introduction of the Native American Church, whose members use the hallucinogenic drug peyote, has helped to revive their old traditions in the 20th century.