Omaha Emergency

Demography. Records just before 1800 indicate an Omaha population of over two thousand. A smallpox epidemic in 1800-1801 reduced that number by more than half, but a high birth rate and productive subsistence practices permitted a return to the earlier figure by the 1820s. The Omaha experienced years of displacement and famine that reduced their numbers to under eight hundred by the 1850s. Indian agent records indicate a relatively steady population increase since the latter half of the nineteenth century in spite of intermittent epidemics. In 1994 the Omaha Tribe reported an enrolled population of over seven thousand. Well over half the enrolled members live off-reservation in neighboring urban areas. Issues regarding minimum requirements of Omaha blood for enrollment and the status of nonenrolled Omahas are hotly debated.

Linguistic Affiliation. The Omaha language is related, with increasing distance, to the Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw languages. Linguists view Omaha and Ponca as dialects of the same language. Most Omahas see their language as separate from the politically distinct Northern and Southern Ponca. Collectively, these five languages make up the Dhegiha subgroup of the Mississippi Valley branch of the Siouan language family. In 1994 the Omaha Tribe reported that less than 1 percent (seventy) of the enrolled members were fluent speakers.