About the Project

Overview

The Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project is a space for telling the stories of the American Indian children who attended Genoa, the stories of their communities, and the stories of their descendants. To help in telling these stories, we first digitized government records of Genoa from various federal and state archives, materials which are often difficult to locate and access. We hope that returning these records to American Indian families and tribes may be an act of archival reconciliation—of bringing history home. Over the longer term, we aim to support descendant communities in telling more complete stories of Genoa and to promote awareness and truth-seeking about the boarding schools among all Americans.

Group photo from the November 2019 meeting of the Community Advisors Council.
November 2019 meeting of the Community Advisors Council: (back row, left to right) Stuart Redwing, Liz Lorang, Susana Grajales Geliga, Margaret Jacobs, Judi gaiashkibos, Michelle Tiedje, Nancy Carlson, Larry Wright, and Lydia Presley; (front row, left to right) Luta Menard, Alyce Tejral, and Katelyn Trammell

The project began in 2018 as a collaboration between the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation, and descendants of the children who attended Genoa. Native voices shaped the appearance and scope of the project, especially individuals involved in the project’s Community Advisors Council, a body co-chaired by Judi M. gaiashkibos (Ponca), Executive Director, Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs; James Riding In (Pawnee), Associate Professor emeritus of American Indian Studies, Arizona State University; and composed of representatives of the four headquartered tribes of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange, and the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation.

Project Timeline
  • 2018–2020: the project began its archival reconciliation by digitizing, describing, and publishing government records from the National Archives and Records Administration depositories in Kansas City, MO, and Denver, CO. The Council on Library and Information Resources generously provided support for this initial phase of the project.
  • 2020–2025: the project continued its archival reconciliation by digitizing, describing, and publishing additional government records from the National Archives and Records Administration depositories in Washington, DC, and College Park, MD, along with records located at the Nebraska State Historical Society and the Oklahoma Historical Society. The National Endowment for the Humanities generously provided support for this second phase of the project.
  • 2023–2025: the project began to record the memories of descendants, acknowledging that government records are merely one side of the reality of Genoa. The project digitally recorded, transcribed, and published oral histories to enrich the story of Genoa with Native voices. The American Council of Learned Societies generously provided support for phase of the project.

Our Team

Community Advisors Council

Co-Chairs
  • Judi M. gaiashkibos (Ponca), Executive Director, Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs
  • James Riding In (Pawnee), Associate Professor emeritus of American Indian Studies, Arizona State University
Former Participants in the Community Advisors Council
  • Everett Baxter (Omaha), Councilman, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
  • Nancy Carlson, Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation
  • Orville Cayou (Omaha), Secretary, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
  • Ben Crawford, Curator & NAGPRA Assistant, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
  • Alonzo Denney (Santee Sioux), Chairman, Santee Sioux Nation
  • Jarell Grant, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
  • Dwight Howe (Omaha, Ponca), Director of Cultural Affairs, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
  • Luta Menard (Oglala Lakota), University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange
  • Sky Morgan (Winnebago), University of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange
  • Stuart Redwing (Santee), Secretary, Santee Sioux Nation
  • Candace Schmidt (Ponca), Chairwoman, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
  • Randy Teboe (Winnebago), Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
  • Sunshine Thomas-Bear (Winnebago), Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
  • Roger Trudell (Santee Sioux), Chairman, Santee Sioux Nation
  • Larry Wright, Jr. (Ponca), Chairman, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
  • Mike Wolfe (Omaha), Chairman, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
  • Clifford Wolfe (Omaha), Councilman, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Artist
  • Henry Payer (Winnebago)

UNL Team

Founding Directors
  • Margaret Jacobs (project co-director), 2017–
  • Elizabeth Lorang (project co-director), 2017–2023
Current Directors
  • Margaret Jacobs (project co-director), 2017–
  • Susana D. Grajales Geliga (Sicangu Lakota and Borinken Taino) (project co-director), 2021–
Current Team Members
  • Lena’ Black (Otoe-Missouria) (undergraduate research assistant), 2024–
  • Caitlin Mace (Crow Creek Sioux) (undergraduate research assistant), 2023–
  • Carmela Rigatuso, (Menominee) (undergraduate research assistant), 2023–
  • Iris Starlin-Hintz (project specialist), 2024–
  • Bayly Watson (graduate research assistant), 2024–
  • Jamison Wyatt (project coordinator), 2023–
Artistic and Technical Team
  • Karin Dalziel (front-end developer and designer, technical consultant), 2018–
  • Katie Nieland (publicist and design assistant), 2020–
  • Greg Tunink (back-end developer, technical consultant), 2018–
Former Project Participants
  • Baligh Ben Taleb (graduate research assistant), 2017–2018; 2020–2021
  • Mikal Brotnov Eckstrom (Nimmipuu ancestry), 2016–2017
  • Gabriel Bruguier (Yankton Sioux) (project contributor), 2023–2024
  • Veronica Duran (graduate research assistant), 2019–2020
  • Blake Graham (audiovisual preservation lead), 2018–2019
  • Susana D. Grajales Geliga (Sicangu Lakota and Borinken Taino) (graduate research assistant), 2018–2021
  • Nicole Gray (project specialist), 2020–2022
  • Kiylista Harden (Winnebago) (undergraduate research assistant), 2019–2020
  • Christy Hyman (graduate research assistant), 2018–2019
  • Ipsita Mitra (graduate research assistant), 2019
  • Sky Morgan (Winnebago) (undergraduate research assistant), 2018–2019
  • Lydia Presley (graduate research assistant), 2018–2019
  • Eric Saxon (research specialist), 2020
  • Michelle Tiedje (project manager, project specialist), 2018–2020
  • Daelyn Zagurski (Winnebago) (undergraduate research assistant), 2019–2020

Our Partners and Sponsors

Collaborating Institutions
  • Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation
  • National Archives at Denver
  • National Archives at Kansas City
  • Oklahoma State Historical Society
  • University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Support Provided By
  • American Council of Learned Societies
  • Council on Library and Information Resources
  • National Endowment for the Humanities
  • College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • University Libraries, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • Office of Sponsored Programs, University of Nebraska–Lincoln