OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — An hour and a half north of Omaha, the people that the city is named after are facing their own problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cloudy skies and thunder in the air represents an awakening for the Omaha native people.
"Around springtime, is when the Omaha people hear the first thunders after the winter, signifies the start of our new year,” said Omaha tribal council member Everett Baxter.
But like many things, this celebration and life in the Omaha tribe has been put on hold because of the coronavirus.
The tribe issued a stay at home order on March 27, and put a curfew in place from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night.
So far, no cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed for the community.
In the wake of the pandemic, the tribe has been working as a community to serve its people, both young and old.
"We have provided cooked meals for our senior citizens that are 55 and over, literally going to their homes to provide a meal for them,” Baxter said.
The local school has sent home enrichment packets and is offering Zoom meetings for children in special education, as well as providing groceries every Wednesday for families.
Their health center is still open and providing services like tele-counseling and prescription delivery to prevent people from potentially exposing themselves and others to the virus.
Baxter said the tribe is doing the best with what it has at this time, but many of the leaders say they are feeling betrayed by the state, accusing Gov. Ricketts of backing out of a deal to provide financial aid.
Ricketts has stated that this was a misunderstanding, and that he will only be providing medical supplies for the tribe, while the federal government provides $8 billion to native people through the CARES Act.
"The direct cash payments are going to be coming from the federal government with regard to that, and that's why we say the state is not going to provide cash financial support,” Baxter said. “But we're happy to supply things like personal protective equipment if you can't get masks or gloves or things like that."
Baxter says the tribe has yet to receive any equipment, and that hefty sum from the CARES Act only goes so far when split amongst over 550 tribes and some Alaskan corporations.
In the meantime, the people whose name means to go against the current will continue leaning on each other to overcome this new obstacle.
“When we have disparities and we have struggle, we tend to come together and help one another out. That's just who we are. And that's the Omaha way,” Baxter said.