A History of Native People in Nebraska, Part I

The following isn’t a comprehensive history; the aim is to highlight important events and the ideas of those whose actions brought forth the history of the region and eventually the state of Nebraska. Using an analogy from the book The Nebraska State Constitution, we can think of how the state developed as a sort of fence, a way of separating what is “mine” and “yours”, who is “us” and “them,” and who the “insiders” and “outsiders” are.9 In examining the period leading up to the formation of Nebraska Territory, it is instructive to point to how outside forces desired and then claimed the land, though it was rightfully inhabited by several Indigenous nations, and how the relation of inside/ outside was quickly reversed as white settlers became established within the territory. Neither is this chapter a historical examination of each Nebraska tribe during this historical period. For a definitive treatment of this time period, I urge readers to consult David Wishart’s An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians.10 Wishart comprehensively covers the histories of the Omaha, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee, and Ponca Tribes, detailing all the treaties, the deaths resulting from the introduction of disease and alcohol, and the corrupt and unscrupulous Indian agents who were sent to “care for the Indians.”