ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the collaborative doctoral dissertation research of Dennis Hastings and Margery Coffey, September 2009, Grandfather Remembers, Broken Treaties/Stolen Land: The Omaha Land Theft. This 1,500-page dissertation has been acknowledged by academic experts and tribal members as the definitive history of the Omaha people during the European invasion. Various spin-off publications are in the making—aimed especially at developing accessible paperback print versions of readings and graphic novels for Omaha children and adults, alike. Quite notably, the dissertation was key in setting the historic tone for the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling (March 23, 2016) in favor of the Omaha people. Hastings and Coffey each, separately, pursued and earned their MA degrees at the Western Institute for Social Research (WISR). They subsequently earned their PhD degrees at WISR, doing nearly a dozen outstanding research-action projects, then culminating with their dissertation. It should be added that Dennis Hastings, who is a member of the Omaha tribe, is the founder and Director of the Omaha Tribal Historical Research Project (OTHRP), and Margery Coffey is European American and the Assistant Director of OTHRP. OTHRP is the Cultural Authority for the Omaha tribe of Nebraska and Iowa in perpetuity by Tribal Resolution.
