﻿114 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth.ann.27 
  

  

  The 
  Omaha 
  did 
  not 
  come 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  white 
  people 
  as 
  

   early 
  as 
  did 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  cognates. 
  They 
  do 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  felt 
  

   the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  from 
  the 
  southwest, 
  although 
  late 
  indi- 
  

   rect 
  effects 
  were 
  transmitted 
  through 
  the 
  Comanche 
  and 
  the 
  Pawnee. 
  

   French 
  influence 
  did 
  not 
  reach 
  the 
  Omaha 
  from 
  the 
  south, 
  but 
  came 
  

   from 
  the 
  north 
  through 
  Canadian 
  traders. 
  The 
  French 
  were 
  the 
  

   first 
  white 
  men 
  to 
  become 
  personally 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha, 
  but 
  they 
  

   did 
  not 
  reach 
  the 
  tribe 
  until 
  well 
  into 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century. 
  The 
  

   English 
  followed 
  the 
  French 
  and 
  exerted 
  a 
  more 
  powerful 
  and 
  dis- 
  

   turbing 
  influence 
  on 
  the 
  social 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  Finally 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  came 
  and 
  remained. 
  

  

  A 
  general 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  environment 
  during 
  recent 
  centuries 
  

   makes 
  apparent 
  certain 
  limitations, 
  and 
  it 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  questioned 
  

   that 
  these 
  limitations 
  must 
  have 
  exercised 
  an 
  influence 
  not 
  only 
  on 
  

   the 
  direction 
  but 
  also 
  on 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  people 
  evolved 
  

   their 
  social 
  and 
  religious 
  life. 
  Indeed 
  the 
  Omaha 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   exempt 
  to 
  a 
  remarkable 
  degree 
  from 
  strong 
  foreign 
  control 
  and 
  to 
  

   have 
  developed 
  their 
  tribal 
  organization 
  in 
  comparative 
  isolation. 
  

   Consequently 
  they 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  preserve 
  their 
  type, 
  a 
  circumstance 
  

   which 
  adds 
  to 
  the 
  value 
  and 
  interest 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  as 
  a 
  study. 
  

  

  