The existence of 90-year-old recordings of songs by the Hethu’shka Society - a group of honored veterans - helped facilitate a refocusing of this erstwhile Warrior Class in its new role of conservator of traditional Omaha Indian values. The Omaha tribal council and tribal historian cooperated with American Folklife Center staff members in the compilation of selected early songs, some copies of which were given to graduating Omaha high school students as a reminder of their living traditions. In 1985, Hethu'shka Society members traveled to Washington, D.C., to sing some of those same songs in a noontime performance on the Library's Neptune Plaza.

The Omaha Indian Music: Hethu'shka Songs 2-CD Set features music that was collected in an effort to preserve, catalog, and disseminate early sound recordings of this tribe’s traditional music and lore. Here are some excerpts from the collection:

"If you see me coming, please stand up and blow your whistle"

This was one of the songs that was played as representative of the Fletcher/La Flesche wax cylinder recordings during the Omaha powwow.


"God, look at me."

Loosely translated, the words of this song mean, "God, look at me. It was hard for me to be a warrior." One must bear in mind that ancient Hethu’shka tradition demands that one must be honored in order to be a warrior; this song therefore has a lot of meaning for the Omahas.


"The spirit is around."

In its essence, this song says, "When I came to your village, I saw your spirit and was thinking of you. My spirit is still here." It is a song that honors the host.


"The young man is coming home."

This song is one of welcome and rejoicing, and says, "The young man is coming home. Get something ready for him." It also includes an invocation that goes, "God help us. Pity us. Thank you for the beautiful things that we can share with one another."

These and 26 other songs included on this 2-CD set were recorded during the festive Omaha powwow that took place in Macy, Nebraska in 1983.