Speaker: Rob Bozell

Location: Norfolk Public Library, Room A

Indigenous people have lived in what we call Nebraska for at least 13,000 years and probably longer. Their story is much richer than what history books have taught us about the past several centuries. Over 97 precent of Indigenous history is only revealed through oral traditions and archeology. For much of that period, people were relatively nomadic hunter-gatherers leaving a fragile archeological record. About 1500 years ago, groups began experimenting with agriculture and building permanent homes and towns that remain as spectacular buried archeological sites. In the mid 1700s, Indigenous culture began to change dramatically though colonialism. Archeology also helps to tell that tumultuous story of challenge and survival.

Rob Bozell is a lifelong Nebraska currently living in Omaha. He earned BA and MA degrees in Anthropology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has spent over 40 years as an archeologist and most of that working at the History Nebraska, State Archeology Office. Bozell retired at the end of 2021 but continues to consult on various research and historic preservation projects in Nebraska and surrounding states. His professional interests include past foodways, fur trade archeology, and working with Indigenous tribes on repatriation and historic preservation.