"To some, Mark Awakuni-Swetland is a culture thief, a non-Native who has built a career and benefited financially from fictitious affiliations with the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.

To others, he is a humble servant of the Omaha people, a man who has worked tirelessly to preserve their language and who truly cares about the Omaha Tribe.

Those who oppose his efforts to preserve the Omaha language say he has falsely claimed to be an Omaha tribal member to win lucrative federal grants and gain tenure as a University of Nebraska-Lincoln assistant professor of anthropology and ethnic studies.

"He's not an Omaha," said Jeff Gilpin, an Omaha tribal council member. "We proved that. He doesn't belong to any clans of the Omaha people there."

But those who know Awakuni-Swetland say he has never claimed to be anything more than who he is - a non-Native teacher trying to help the Omaha people.

"He's never said that he was a member of the Omaha Tribe," said Emmaline Walker Sanchez, an Omaha tribal member who has worked with Awakuni-Swetland to preserve the Omaha language for 10 years. "But he was adopted by some enrolled tribal members."

Omaha tribal member Barb Stabler-Smith said her now deceased parents, Charles and Elizabeth Stabler, adopted Awakuni-Swetland years ago. She said her parents' adoption of Awakuni-Swetland also involved his induction into the Black Shoulder Buffalo Clan of the Omaha.

Some Omaha tribal members have pushed University of Nebraska leaders to remove Awakuni-Swetland as a professor. On June 11, two of those tribal members, including Gilpin, spoke before the NU Board of Regents, calling for his removal."

Get the Story:
Kevin Abourezk: UNL Omaha language professor facing pressure from some tribe members (The Lincoln Journal Star 6/21)