Dear Colleague:

It is a pleasure to invite you to participate in a study of three Native American tribes whose historic homeland is in the plains of Nebraska: “Legacies and Landmarks of the Plains Native Americans.” Explore the journey of the Pawnee, Ponca, and Omaha from the time of Western expansion to the present. Learn about their culture, and discover how the way of life they cherished was altered forever by Western expansion. Hear the theme of hope of a people still among us today who are painstakingly preserving a cultural legacy for the future.

This study is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of its “Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for Community College Faculty.” Join us for a 5˝ day workshop June 20 to 25, 2010, or June 27 to July 2, 2010, on the Central Community College campus in Columbus, Nebraska. Columbus is historical in its own right as the scene of the Villasur massacre, and it is also in the heart of the plains where these Native Americans lived. It is uniquely situated near many prehistoric Pawnee village archaeological sites, the Genoa U.S. Indian School, the Omaha reservation, and the city where the Standing Bear trial took place. These landmarks and more will be visited during the workshop.

The format will include historical site visits, presentations by scholarly researchers from Nebraska, and first hand accounts from contemporary tribal leaders. You will be introduced to plains Native American studies and in the process we will help you incorporate these and similar studies into your classroom as well as assist you in the pursuit of personal research interests. Prepare to actively discuss key issues with colleagues from around the country. Participants will receive a $1,200 stipend to help defray expenses.

Topics/Themes

Characteristics of the Indigenous Cultures 1780

By 1780, the Pawnee, Ponca and Omaha called Nebraska their homeland. The Ponca settled in north central Nebraska/south central South Dakota, while the Omaha were in the eastern part of the state. The Pawnee villages extended throughout the central part of Nebraska and north central Kansas.

The tribes - the Pawnee, Ponca, and Omaha - had similar patterns of living. During the Spring and Fall, they lived in permanent earth lodges and planted crops such as corn. In the Summer and Winter, they left their lodges, brought their tepees, and proceeded west to hunt buffalo and other animals.

One theme of the workshop is to study in depth the way these three tribes lived between 1780 and 1815, before Western expansion and treaties. Two books to be read prior to the workshop, Gene Weltfish's The Lost Universe: Pawnee Life and Culture and Dance Lodges of the Omaha People: Building from Memory by Dr. Mark Awakuni-Swetland, provide first-hand accounts to aid in the understanding of the culture. Contemporary cultural leaders will provide further depth to this aspect of the study. In addition, archaeologists will explain what we can learn about their culture from artifacts and village sites.

Removal from Homeland to Reservations, Indian Schools

Of the three, the Pawnee was the largest of the tribes, peaking at 10,000 to 12,500 in 1780. At the same time, the Omaha numbered around 2,800 and approximately 800 were Ponca. The land these three tribes held, however, covered an extensive area as indicated on the map above. Then, around 1800, a smallpox epidemic and other diseases greatly reduced the population, so significantly fewer people were living in a vast area.

Then, beginning in 1815, the U.S. government persuaded the three tribes, each separately, to sign several treaties. The treaties followed a similar pattern. The first treaties were signed between 1815 and 1818 and acknowledged peace and friendship. Between 1825 and 1831, the second treaties regulated trade - guns and furs predominantly. The next series of treaties in the mid 1830's transferred land from the three tribes to the U.S. government. Finally, in 1854, Nebraska Territory was opened to settlers, and by 1857 the treaties established reservations.

The tribes lived in different parts of Nebraska, so the reservation system placed them in different locations. The Omaha, in the Eastern part of the state were never forced from Nebraska, but were limited to a small area most of which is in contemporary Thurston County. They eventually gave part of their land to the Winnebago. Today, Thurston County, site of the Omaha and Winnebago reservations, is the poorest in Nebraska.

The Ponca, on the other hand, were forced to move to Oklahoma. Following the Standing Bear trial in 1879, some Ponca chose to return to their homeland near the Niobrara River, while many who had moved to Oklahoma chose to stay there, near Ponca City. As a result, today there is the Ponca tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca tribe of Oklahoma.

Initially the Pawnee were placed in Nance County, Nebraska, but eventually were forced to the area in and around Pawnee, Oklahoma. The second theme for the workshop, then, is this uprooting of the Nebraska Native Americans and the effect it had on their cultures. Prior to the workshop, participants will read David Wishart's book An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians and Dr. Wishart will lead discussion of this topic.

Then, following the establishment of reservations, a well-meaning U.S. government created U.S. Indian Boarding Schools in 1875. Reservation children were taken from their homes and sent great distances to boarding schools. The last boarding school closed in 1935. Participants will watch the PBS documentary "In the White Man's Image," which describes the experiment of boarding schools. The film producer, Christine Lesiak, will discuss her research for the film and the concept of boarding schools. In addition, participants will tour the Genoa U.S. Indian School, which was one of the largest, and will hear from Judi gaiashkibos whose mother was a student at the school. Participants, then, will learn first hand about this topic.

Hope for the Future

Today, numbers of tribal members alone symbolize the hope of the future of the Pawnee, Ponca, and Omaha. The Pawnee number over 6,000, Omaha 1,170, and the Ponca tribe of Nebraska alone has 2,500 members. We will hear from contemporary tribal leaders: Pat Leading Fox of Pawnee, Oklahoma; Gary Robinette from Ponca headquarters at Niobrara; Sydney Bird and Dr. Ardis BadMoccasin from the Omaha reservation in Macy, Nebraska. Matt "Sitting Bear" Jones will tell stories from relatives on the reservation, and Dr. Mark Awakuni-Swetland will tell about his National Endowment for the Humanities grant to preserve the language of the Omaha and Ponca.

Structure and Content

Sunday

The workshop begins at 3:30. Following a get-acquainted session and overview, participants will attend a reception and dinner at the Elks Country Club. Matt "Sitting Bear" Jones will present Native American stories, many of which he heard from relatives as a child growing up on Indian reservations in Oklahoma. "To the native American people, stories were teaching tools." His grandfather used stories to instill wisdom and morals and told him that "stories have a spirit and we as the teller give that spirit life and purpose." His storytelling this evening will include "The Villasur Massacre," a significant event which resulted in French domination of the Great Plains.

MondayRepublic County, Kansas

The first full day of our workshop we will travel by bus to our first landmark, the site of a large 1820's Kitkehahki Pawnee Indian Village in Republic County, Kansas, just south of Nebraska. To prepare for our visit, en route Linda Wilke-Heil will lead discussion on the required book The Lost Universe: Pawnee Life and Culture, written by Columbia-trained anthropologist Dr. Gene Weltfish, which has been described as "the most comprehensive published account of nineteenth-century Pawnee culture." Weltfish learned the Pawnee language in order to do fieldwork with the Skiri Pawnee between 1929 and 1935.

Richard Gould, caretaker of the Pawnee Indian Museum, will be our host as we see the excavated floor of a large Pawnee earth lodge, a Pawnee sacred bundle, and other Pawnee artifacts. Copies of several George Catlin paintings are on display, and we will see a movie about Catlin's Native American art. We will hear the voice of a Pawnee elder as she describes the Pawnee culture. Outside the museum we will view many more earth lodge archaeological sites and see first hand the size of this large village. Our guide will be archaeologist Dr. Donna Roper from Kansas State University.

Lunch will be in Scandia, Kansas, at Tags Grill. Pat Leading Fox from Pawnee Oklahoma, head chief of the Pawnee Nation's Nasharo Council and our only out-of-state speaker, will tell the story of the Pawnee through the eyes of a tribal cultural leader. We will learn about the Pawnee first hand and about how they are preserving their cultural legacy for future generations.

On the return trip to Columbus, we will view the PBS documentary In the White Man's Image, a film depicting the experiment of the United States government to force Native American children to attend Indian Schools. The first school was established in 1875 and they continued to operate into the 1930's.

Upon arrival in Columbus, we will have dinner at Duster's Restaurant where Christine Lesiak will join us. Ms. Lesiak was a co-producer of In the White Man's Image with Matt "Sitting Bear" Jones. Lesiak will tell about the research she did for the film. She will also describe related new projects and lead a thought-provoking discussion with participants.

TuesdayNance County, Nebraska

We will visit our next landmarks as we travel to Nance County, Nebraska by mini-bus. Our first stop will be the Genoa U.S. Indian School established by the U.S. government in 1884. This Indian School, the fourth established in the U.S., was one of the largest. It was in operation until 1934. Following a tour of the school, our speaker will be Judi gaiashkibos, Executive Director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs. Her mother, a member of the Ponca tribe, was a student at the school. She will cite detailed accounts of her mother's experience of being separated from family and placed in the U.S. Indian School in Genoa, followed by a question and answer session.

We will then travel to Fullerton, Nebraska. Here we will visit the new Veteran's Memorial and see the Pawnee Indian Nation flag flying proudly. We will learn of the involvement by Pawnees in our nations' wars. Before and after lunch, archaeologist Nancy Carlson will take us to several Pawnee sites in Nance County and explain their significance. Our working lunch will be catered at the Broken Arrow Wilderness camp in Fullerton.

Our afternoon lecturer will be Dr. Renee Laegreid a History and Women's Studies professor at Hastings College, who will speak on "Native American Women: Key Values and Transitional Roles."

Late afternoon and evening will be spent in the CCC computer lab with Mel Janousek, our instructional design coordinator.

WednesdayOmaha

We will travel by mini-bus to Omaha where we first will visit the Joslyn Art Museum. At the Joslyn, we will visit 1) the Durham Center for Western Studies and introduction to the Maximilian Journal Project; 2) Native American and Western galleries, including a look at the work of Karl Bodmer, Alfred Jacob Miller, and other artists; and 3) Education department including the Teacher Resource Center. Lunch will be at the Joslyn.

Directly following lunch, we will proceed to the Durham Museum's Mutual of Omaha Auditorium. Three presenters will join us: Gary Robinette, Joe Starita, and Dr. Mark Awakuni-Swetland.

The first two speakers will highlight the Ponca tribe. Gary Robinette, Director of Cultural Affairs for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, will provide insight into the history and culture of the Ponca. Mr. Robinette attended an Indian mission school through the 11th grade. He will include information on how the contemporary Ponca nation is organized and their vision for the future.

We will then discuss the required book I Am A Man: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice, with its author, Joe Starita, the Pike Professor of Journalism, News-Editorial Department, College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Starita, a former investigative reporter for the Miami Herald's New York bureau, completed I Am A Man after four years of research, and it was published in 2009.

Our final discussion topic will be the Omaha, led by Dr. Mark Awakuni-Swetland, to prepare us for our visit to the Omaha reservation on Thursday. Dr. Awakuni-Swetland, assistant professor of Anthropology at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, recently completed our third required book Dance Lodges of the Omaha People: Building from Memory, and in addition to our discussion of the book, he will tell about his National Endowment for the Humanities grant to preserve the language of the Omaha and Ponca.

There will be time to explore the Durham Museum's Native American section, including the replica of an earth lodge, a tepee, and the Standing Bear exhibit.

Dinner will be on your own in the historic Old Market area of Omaha.

Thursday

We will travel by bus to our next landmark, Macy, Nebraska, and the Omaha Indian reservation. Following a scenic overview of the reservation from Blackbird Bend, we will proceed to the Senior Center, where director Sydney Bird will tell us about the Omaha, life on the reservation, and the work she's doing to help others on the reservation. Dr. Ardis BadMoccasin, Academic Dean at the Nebraska Indian Community College will lead a tour and tell us about the Nebraska Indian Community College. We will be joined by Michael Oltrogge, president of the community college.

Lunch will be in Decatur, Nebraska, at the Green Lantern. On the return trip to Columbus, we will stop at the Neihardt Center and Sacred Hoop Prayer Garden.

In Columbus, our speaker and discussion leader will be Dr. David Wishart, author of our fourth required book, An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians. Wishart won the coveted J.B. Jackson Prize in 1995 with this book, designated as the best scholarly book of the year in North American Geography, and it was nominated for a Pulitzer prize. Wishart is professor and chair, Department of Anthropology and Geography, at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Friday

Participants will spend their final morning working on their projects with Mel Janousek. At 2:00 the workshop finale will begin with "The Week That Was," a final program summary, and special entertainment. The workshop concludes at 4:00.

A detailed schedule, further information about presenters, descriptions of the four required books, eligibility requirements, and application information is also on this website. We hope you will apply for this special study of Plains Native Americans!

Sincerely,

Dianna L. Parmley, Ph.D. Project Director