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he heritage of the Omaha Indian Tribe is the
llfeMnvl nf U ronn! TV fnllnwinfi StOrV
depicts how this northeastern Nebraska
tribe is trying to rebuild its culture in an effort to
strengthen the dignity cf Omaha Indians and
Improve the world in which they live.
Hcy, Ntb. Outside a dry goods store sits
an o!d man, looking at life before him.
His wide nose bends like a fishhook, marking a
dark face that is as weathered as the faded red
bench he has taken to observe the cold autumn
The old man wears a green canvas coat and
pants. A hat covers his white hair. He is sheltered
by a porch roof that slants down from the store's
front onto four wooden posts.
Next to the dry goods store is a worn building.
A white metal sign hangs above its doorway:
Car-lu Trading Post Through eyes that have sunk
with age, the old man watches the people who
walk past him and go into the building.
An Omaha Indian, the old man is part of a
people who see their heritage dying hr a non
Indian world.
the Omaha Indian is not a proud man, says
Dennis Hastings, a member of the Omsha Tribe.
The Omaha has lost much of his dignity and with
it, his desire to know his culture, Hastings says.
The erosion of the Omaha Indian's culture
goes deeper than a forgotten tribal sonz The ,
alcoholic Indian, the unemployed Indian, the
uneducated Indian in some part, each is a
sympton of a withering Omaha heritage. ;
The yoang Indian peopk fcsve
other things to do than listen
to an old tde zhmt their tribe.
They don't care s&osst their
hngazse or tmditl. Todsy
when cn elder dies, he tdies
part cf cur cd&re vith him.
A nearly completed tiavev cosjbcted bv the
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Offiaha, fianeb2go and Ssatee Sioux .tribes
indicates the plight of some 1,800 Oaahas living
on the Omaha Indian Reservation in northeastern
Nebraska.
l&XI Uni:iNT: For the Oxaha, the rate is
8 1 percent compared to 4.2 percent for ethers in
Nebraska. The yearly income for four-fifths of
the tribe is less than $7,000, while the statewide
average in 1980 was $10,600. Of the indtais who
do work, almost all are employed by the U.S.
government
EDUCATION: More than 60 percent of Omaha
Indians don't graduate from high school, while
fewer than 20 percent of Nebrasbns fail to do so.
Of those Indians who do receive their diplomas,
only 10 percent go on to higher education.
MIGRATION: Indians 14 to 35 years old a
21 -year span constitute 44 percent of the
people living on the reservation. Indians 36 to 60
years old a 24-year span constitute less
than 23 percent of the Omahas at the reservation.
Of the tribe's 3,000 members, two-fifth have left
the reservation.
ALCOf IOLISM: Other reports show the severity
of alcoholism among Omaha Indians. During
1982. there were 20 deaths attributed to alcohol
at the Omaha reservation compared to 22
Nebraskans wto died of alcoholism in 1983. Of
the 1,600 arrests made by the Omaha Tribal
Police Department in 1982, 92 percent involved
alcohol. Alcoholism, either directly or directly
affects 78 percent of all Omaha families.
TTie Macy Alcohol Center has 250 Omahas
listed for alcohol-related problems. Each month
the center admits about three new people for
alcohol abuse.