Mark Awakuni-Swetland
As a young boy Mark Awakuni-Swetland () was adopted as a grandson by an Omaha family living in Lincoln, Nebraska. Grandpa Charles Stabler (1900-1992) socialized him into the Omaha way of life while Grandma Elizabeth Saunsoci Stabler (1905-1985) taught him the Omaha language. He compiled and published an Omaha vocabulary for Grandma Elizabeth in 1977. He is named into the Inkesabe (Black Shoulder) Buffalo Clan, is a member of the Omaha Tia-Piah Society, and a traditional Hethushka-style dancer.
Awakuni-Swetland completed his UNL B.A. summa cum laude (1994) majoring in Great Plains Studies, Anthropology, and History with a minor in American Indian Studies and a Senior Honors thesis examining the Omaha Dance Lodges of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His UNL M.A. (1996) in Anthropology included a thesis on Omaha language attitudes and abilities of the students at Macy Public School on the Omaha Reservation. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma in 2003 with a dissertation examining the attitudes and actions of key Omaha community leaders towards the Omaha language.
Awakuni-Swetland has been at the University of Nebraska since 1999 with a joint appointment in Anthropology and Ethnic Studies (Native American Studies) where he is developing and teaching a 4 semester series of Omaha language classes with the assistance of local Omaha speakers.
Department Homepage: http://www.unl.edu/anthro/afaculty.htm