The Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln will open “Reflections of Our People, Our Ways, Our Land” on September 5, the first-ever exhibition centered on Otoe-Missouria artists. Featuring 24 artists from the tribe, the show spans traditional to contemporary mediums and runs through December 20. The exhibition is part of the Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors project, funded by the Mellon Foundation, which aims to promote healing and reconciliation by reconnecting the tribe to its Nebraska homelands.
This exhibition matters because it marks a historic institutional recognition of Otoe-Missouria artistic voices, centering Indigenous perspectives on healing, land, and community. It also reflects a broader shift in the art world toward supporting Indigenous-led projects and decolonizing museum practices, with support from major foundations like Mellon and Terra. By placing the museum on Otoe-Missouria homelands and engaging non-Native audiences, the project fosters cross-cultural understanding and addresses historical erasure.