One hundred seventy years ago, the Treaty of 1854 was passed by Congress, authorizing the move of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe to the Big Blue Reservation in Gage County, Nebraska. The Tribe watched as acre by acre of their land was sold off by the government and treaties were broken. In 1881, the Tribe was moved from this reservation to Red Rock, Oklahoma.

The Gage County Historical Society, along with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, arranged a summer exhibit in 2024 to educate the public about this important part of American history. The Otoe-Missouria Tribe once called Southeast Nebraska home. Through the displacement of the people during the 1800s, they lost sacred traditions. Big Blue Reservation: Struggles and Hope of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe includes their voices of how that loss affected them into the present.

The Tribe and the Society wanted this exhibit to travel to other institutions to provide a cultural history of Nebraska, utilizing the Tribe’s perspective. As a result of this hard work, the Gage County Historical Society’s traveling exhibit will open in the Great Plains Art Museum’s mezzanine gallery. This exhibit is on view in conjunction with Reflections of Our People, Our Ways, Our Land.

The Great Plains Art Museum is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major U.S. holidays, University breaks, and home football game Saturdays. Admission is free.