Eunice Woodhull Stabler. Eunice Stabler, or Thataweson , meaning "Pale Woman of the Bird Clan," was born in 1885 on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska. During a period of continued transitions and federal assimilation efforts directed at the Omaha people--and Indigenous people throughout the United States--Stabler remained…

This article lays out U.S. Indian policy in the Great Plains during the twenty-five years after the Civil War by examining chronologically specific "players" that shaped and reshaped that policy: the U.S. Army, the President and Interior Department, Congress, religious organizations, whites in the Indian reform movement, settlers surging…

Popular images of the Great Plains frequently portray horse-mounted Indians engaged in dramatic bison hunts. The importance of these hunts is emphasized by the oft-mentioned dependence of the Plains Indians on bison. This animal served as a source of not only food but also materials for shelter, clothing, containers, and many other necessities of…

Nebraska's Indian population exploded in the summer of 1898, but it was not due to natural increase. More than 500 Indians representing twenty-three tribes came to Omaha as part of the United States Indian Bureau's exhibit at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. During their three-month stay at the world's fair, Indians engaged in dancing, feasting,…

The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, terminated in 1965 and restored to federally recognized status in 1990, is exploring the limits of self-governance, economic development opportunities, and cultural revitalization initiatives. The Ponca recognize they have experienced profound cultural loss over the past three centuries, yet the definition of what it…

With the backing of America's wealthy citizenry, Joseph Dixon organized the 1913 Expedition of Citizenship in an effort to advance the acculturation of American Indians. Dixon's efforts were a melodramatic charade in which the Indians gained nothing but patriotic rituals, still practiced at tribal meetings and powwows. Too late, Dixon realized the…