Omaha Indian Reservation

American Indian reservation in northeastern Nebraska, USA, on the east bank of the Missouri River, 100 km/60 mi northwest of Omaha and 40 km/25 mi south of Sioux City, Iowa; area 808 sq km/312 sq mi; population (1990) 5,200 (36% American Indian). The headquarters is Macy; population (1990) 800. The Omaha people moved west from the Ohio area in the 18th century, arriving in northeastern Nebraska around 1802.

The Omaha, Siouan speakers but enemies of the Sioux, began regular powwows on their land in about 1803, and the custom spread to many other US reservations. In 1865 part of their land to the north was sold to create the adjacent Winnebago Indian Reservation; area 449 sq km/173 sq mi; population (1990) 2,300 (49% American Indian). The Winnebago reservation was settled by part of the group whose former home had been the Green Bay–Lake Winnebago area of east Wisconsin.