On Monday the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska started their first Genoa Indian School memorial walk. The walk was 7.9 miles to the first stop and will last for two weeks.
Thousands of native children including members from the Omaha Tribe were sent to Genoa Indian School from 1884 to 1934. About 15-20 people started the journey by saying a prayer at the Genoa Indian School.
Jason Sheridan, Chairman of Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, told Siouxland Public Media, “I’m participating to help get closure for our people as well as all those ones that were supposedly left there so we could help them maybe walk with them back towards our homelands on the northeast part of the state”.
Nathan Philips, organizer of the walk, said the walk came to him in a dream after visiting Genoa Indian School where his mother attended school.
Nathan Philips told Siouxland Public Media, “This dream was about me coming home and doing this prayer walk you know for the people here you know for the ones at Genoa.”