UmoNhoN Iye: The Omaha Speaking
- NOT RATED
- 2019
- 1 HR, 7 min
- JUL 8
No starring credits.
Brigitte Timmerman
MADE IN NEBRASKA 2026 SUMMER SERIES
“Our language is sacred, no one can take it from us.”–Omaha Elder.
From Nebraska-based filmmaker Brigitte Timmerman, this award-winning documentary profiles the last fluent speakers of the Omaha language. Through a series of vignettes, The Omaha Speaking collects the moving stories of elders who grew up speaking their native tongue and dedicated educators working to keep the language alive.
Nebraska Filming Location: Macy, Winnebago
TICKETS: $10 General Admission | $5 Members & UNL Students
Brigitte Timmerman’s documentary looks at efforts by Omaha Tribe elders to preserve the endangered language they grew up speaking despite attempts to suppress it. The language is passed on orally from one generation to the next in families and school settings. Special books and programs help. But in the decade since the doc was filmed several fluent speakers have died, thus complicating an already daunting cause. The film’s power lies in tribal members sharing the truth of their sacred, traditional ways and the brutal methods the U.S. government employed to separate native peoples from their own identity and culture. Macy and Winnebago, Nebraska feature prominently in the film.
Leo Adam Biga
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