Otoe-Missouria tribe finally welcomed back to their homeland, 200 years after being forced out

Sept. 21 marked the anniversary of when the Otoe-Missouria tribe was forced out of their lands, which would later become the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, and moved to a reservation in Oklahoma. Now the tribe hopes the day will serve as an annual reminder of reconciliation.
The last time Otoe-Missouria families walked together on Nebraska prairie, they were headed south to hot, dry reservation land in Oklahoma. They wouldn’t be officially welcomed back to their ancestral home for nearly 200 years.

This is where Christina Faw Faw’s relatives hunted elk and bison, where they kept their corn and wild plants, where they held celebrations and ceremonies, and eventually, where they had to leave. Though, Faw Faw says her ancestors’ presence remains.

“As soon as we got out of the car and started walking down this road, I could feel it,” she said.