Native American tribes in the U.S. state of Nebraska have been Plains Indians, descendants of succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples who have occupied the area for thousands of years. More than 15 historic tribes have been identified as having lived in, hunted in, or otherwise occupied territory within the current state boundaries.Swanton, J.R. (1952) The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: General Printing Office. p 283.

The 19th-century history of the state included the establishment of eight Indian reservations, including a half-breed tract. Today six tribes, (Omaha, Winnebago, Ponca, Iowa, Santee Sioux, Sac and Fox), have reservations in Nebraska. In 2006 American Indian and Alaska Native persons comprised one percent of the state's population."Nebraska Quickfacts" , U.S. Census. Retrieved 6/28/08. Towns at the northern border also have relations within reservations within South Dakota.

Tribes

Several language groups were represented by the American Indians in present-day Nebraska. The Algonquian-speaking Arapaho lived for more than 1,000 years throughout the western part of Nebraska.Andersen, J.D. (2001) The Four Hills of Life: Northern Arapaho Knowledge and Life Movement. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. In a prehistoric period; Nebraska was home to the Arikara, who spoke a Caddoan language, as did the Pawnee; after 1823 they returned from present-day North Dakota to live with the Skidi Pawnee for two years.Deetz, J. (1965) "The Dynamics of Stylistic Change in Arikara Ceramics", Illinois Studies in Anthropology No. 4. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. The Kiowa once occupied western Nebraska.Morton, J.S. (1918) History of Nebraska. Western Publishing and Engraving Company. p 29. The eastern range of the Algonquian-speaking Cheyenne included western Nebraska, after the Comanche who had formerly lived in the territory had moved south toward Texas.Swanton, J.R. (1952) p 283.

The Great Sioux Nation, including the Ihanktowan-Ihanktowana and the Lakota located to the north and west, used Nebraska as a hunting and skirmish ground, although they did not have any long-term settlements in the state.DeMallie, R.J. (2001a). "Sioux until 1850", in Handbook of North American Indians: Plains. Volume 13, Part 2. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. p 740.DeMallie, R.J. (2001b). "Teton", in Handbook of North American Indians: Plains. Volume 13, Part 2. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. p 810.

The Omaha belong to the Siouan-language family of the Dhegihan branch, and have been located along the Missouri River in northeastern Nebraska since the late 17th century, after having migrated from eastern areas together with other tribes. Originally living along the Ohio and Wabash rivers to the east, the Omaha, along with the Dhegihan Ponca, moved into Nebraska in the 1670s. Other Siouan-Dheigihan tribes who moved west from the Ohio River about then were the Osage, Kansa and Quapaw, who settled to the southwestern part of the territory. At that point the Ponca split, and the Omaha settled on Bow Creek in present-day Cedar County.Fletcher, A.C. (1885) Historical Sketch of the Omaha Tribe of Indians in Nebraska. Washington: Judd & Detweiler. Before 1700, the Iowa, a Siouan people whose language was Chiwere, moved from the Red Pipestone Quarry into Nebraska.Swanton, J.R. (1952) p 264.

The Omaha separated from the Ponca at the mouth of White River in present-day South Dakota. The latter moved west into the Black Hills, but later they rejoined the Omaha. The Ponca settled at the Nemaha River while the Omaha became established to the south at Bow Creek.

By the Treaty of 1854, the Omaha ceded most of their land to the United States. They moved to a reservation within two years and later shared their land with the Winnebago. Also known by their autonym of Ho-Chunk, the latter moved to the reservation in 1862 after an uprising by the Lakota. The US government later granted land within the Omaha reservation boundaries to the Ho-Chunk, whose descendants still live there."History", Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Retrieved 6/27/08.

In 1877 the United States forced the Ponca tribe to move south to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, although they had wanted to stay on a reservation in Nebraska. The failure of the government to support the people adequately after the removal and poor conditions on the reservation led to many deaths. The US Army's detention of some Ponca leaders who returned to Nebraska was challenged in court and the case followed nationally by many Americans. It resulted in the landmark civil rights case of Standing Bear v. Crook (1872), which established that American Indians shared in certain rights under the constitution. Following the court case, the US assigned the tribe some land in Nebraska. Today the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska live in Knox County; another part of the people live on their federally recognized reservation in Oklahoma.

The Missouri lived south of the Platte River and, along with the Otoe, met with the Lewis and Clark Expedition at the Council Bluff. Like the Iowa, both tribes are part of the Chiwere branch of the Siouan-language family."Fort Atkinson State Historical Park" , Nebraska Economic Development Council. Retrieved 6/27/08. In 1804 the Otoe had a town on the south side of the Platte River not far from its mouth on the Missouri. On March 3, 1881 the tribe sold all of their land in Nebraska to the federal government and moved to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

In 1830 the Meskwaki and the Sauk, distinct Algonquian-speaking tribes that were closely related, ceded a great deal of land in Nebraska to the United States.(1937) Corporate charter of the Sac and Fox Tribe of Missouri of the Sac and Fox Reservation in Kansas and Nebraska. United States Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs. Retrieved 6/27/08. Today the tribes are federally recognized together.

The Pawnee, which included four tribes, lived in villages along the Platte River. In the mid-nineteenth century, they ceded all of their lands in Nebraska to the United States except one reservation; in 1876 they surrendered this tract and moved to Indian Territory. The battle of Massacre Canyon on August 5, 1873, was the last major battle between the Pawnee and the Sioux. About 70 Pawnee were killed, mostly women and children."Massacre Canyon Monument "

Loss of land Between 1857 and 1862 tribes were forced to give up, or ceded, land for sale in Nebraska in five separate treaties with the U.S. government in the years immediately leading up to the passage of the Homestead Act."Tribes in Nebraska Give Up Lands in Treaties 1854 - 1857" , NebraskaStudies.org. Retrieved 6/27/08. In 1854 Logan Fontenelle was chief and also translated the negotiations that led the Omaha to the first of five cessions of 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.Logan Fontenelle . Nebraska Department of Education. Retrieved 6/22/07. The Otoe and Missouri tribes negotiated the last of four treaties that same year, and the Pawnee, Arapaho and Cheyenne all signed treaties within a few years.Royce, C.C. (1899) "Indian Land Cessions in the United States," in Powell, J.W. 18th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1896-97, Part 2. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

In the 1870s the Nebraska Legislature petitioned the U.S. Congress for the extinction of the original holders' land rights in the state by drafting the following statement:

Tribes and treaties There are 18 separate treaties between American Indian tribes and the U.S. government for land in Nebraska which were negotiated between 1825 and 1892. By the 1850s the Pawnee, Omaha, Oto-Missouri, Ponca, Lakota, and Cheyenne were the main Great Plains tribes living in the Nebraska Territory."Native Americans meet challenges" , NebraskaStudies.org. Retrieved 6/28/08.

U.S. government treaties with American Indian tribes for land in Nebraska. Tribe Year Notes Kansas 1825 Ceded much of severe southeast Nebraska. Oto 1830 The severe southeastern corner of Nebraska. Oto 1833 Southeast Nebraska, near the mouth of the Platte, included land where the Moses Merill Mission was located. Pawnee 1833 South-central Nebraska. Pawnee 1848 A small tract along the Platte River in central Nebraska. Omaha 1854 Almost all of east-central and northeast Nebraska. Oto and Missouri 1854 East-central Nebraska immediately south of the Platte River. Pawnee 1857 All of north-central Nebraska between the Platte River and the South Dakota border. Arapaho and Cheyenne 1861 All of southwestern and some of west-central Nebraska south of the North Platte River. Omaha 1865 A small parcel of land compromising 1/4 of their reservation. Lakota 1875 All of west-central Nebraska north of the North Platte River. Pawnee 1875 A small tract north of the Platte River that included the land that became the Genoa Indian Industrial School. Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho 1876 All of severe northwestern Nebraska. Omaha 1882 Two parcels of land in two treaties comprising 1/2 of their reservation lands, including land for the Winnebago reservation. Lakota 1892 Ceded a parcel of land including Pine Ridge, Nebraska.

Federal recognition Today the United States government recognizes several tribes in Nebraska. They include the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska, and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska."Alphabetical List of Federally Recognized Native American Tribes", Retrieved 6/28/08.

Reservations Indian reservations in Nebraska currently include land of the Ioway, Santee Sioux, Omaha, Sac and Fox, Winnebago, and Ponca. The Omaha were forced to cede their Boone County lands to the U.S. government in 1854. The Pawnee were forced to gave up their Boone County lands in 1857. Nance County was a Pawnee reservation until 1875, when harassment by the whites and Sioux helped convince by force the Pawnee to relocate to Oklahoma.Fink, D. (1992) Agrarian Women: Wives and Mothers in Rural Nebraska, 1880-1940. University of North Carolina Press. p. 37. The Oto, Omaha, and Ioway were forced to cede much of their land to the U.S. government in 1854, resulting in moving onto reservations in eastern Nebraska. That year the Nebraska Territory was organized and opened to settlement.Fowler, L. (2005) The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains. Columbia University Press. p. 201.

Indian reservations in Nebraska."Nebraska Indian reservations", Retrieved 6/28/08. Reservation name Tribe Established Size History Notes