Omaha are a Native American people who live mainly in northeast Nebraska. Many make their homes on a reservation there. Many others live in Lincoln or Omaha or in Sioux City, Iowa. Today, about 4,500 Omaha live in the United States. The city of Omaha was named after the Omaha Indians.
The Omaha once lived in the Ohio River Valley along with ancestors of the Kansa, Osage, Ponca, and Quapaw. They all spoke similar Siouan languages. Eventually, the groups separated, and most of them moved west. The Omaha arrived in Nebraska about 1700. Many Omaha still speak their own language.
In Nebraska, the Omaha traditionally lived in earth lodges in villages near the Missouri River. An Omaha earth lodge consisted of a circular log frame covered with layers of branches, grass, and earth. The Omaha planted corn and other crops in the spring. In summer, they moved west to hunt buffalo and lived in tipis. In the fall, they returned to the village with supplies of dried buffalo meat and harvested their corn. They hunted deer in the winter.
