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Nancy Gillis, Humanities Nebraska Speaker, Will Present Native American Topics At BPS
March 19, 2026
Nancy Gillis, a renowned scholar of indigenous people of Nebraska and a popular speaker, will visit Burwell Public Schools as a guest speaker from Humanities Nebraska onTuesday, March 31. Ms. Gillis will present two programs, both in the high school. This program is part of a Weverka Learning Academy project through the Calamus Area Community Fund that has encouraged the study of the American Bison and Native American history in the school and community. The public is invited to attend both sessions.
At 1 pm she will discuss, “The Homestead Act and the Plains Tribes” with grades 7-12. This program explains the timeline impacts of the opening of the Plains to white settlement on the political structures, gender relationships, economics, spiritual ways, and other cultural components both prior to and following pivotal legislation in the 1860s: the Homestead Act, Railroad Act, and Morrill Land Grant Act.
At 2 pm, with grades 3-6, she will discuss, “A Brief History of the Five Tribes of Nebraska: Omaha, Ponca, Pawnee, Santee and Winnebago.” This program is a look at the origins, history, and current status of these five tribes.
Both of these presentations are made possible by funding from Humanities Nebraska and are completely free for students and community members.
Nancy S. Gillis was the Executive Director of the John Neihardt State Historic Site and its Institute for Vision and Learning for 19 years, retiring in 2019. She brought to that entity a background in both education and corporate administration. Now on its Board of Directors, she still speaks on Neihardt’s work and a wide variety of related topics. She spent 30 + years in education, including on faculty at Wayne State College, Northeast Community College, Nebraska Indian Community College, and Little Priest Tribal College teaching Native American History and Cultures, U.S. History, World History, Cultural Anthropology and Sociology and an honors course on John G. Neihardt. A popular presenter on the Humanities Nebraska Speakers Bureau, she gives talks on such topics as Neihardt and Black Elk, Native American Women’s Oratory, Impact of 1860s Legislation on the Plains Tribes, Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, The Five Tribes of Nebraska, and many others, including workshops on Native stereotyping in curriculum materials, and teaching about Native Americans for education in-service programs.
Of Cherokee/Choctaw descent, Ms. Gillis is originally from California but lived in several states before coming to Nebraska in 1987 to work with the Winnebago Tribe for the Reformed Church in America. In 2014 she received the Addison Sheldon award from the State of Nebraska for “distinguished service to the history of Nebraska in the stories of Native Americans and the writings of John Neihardt;” from 2012 is a commissioned Admiral in the Great Navy of Nebraska by Gov. Heineman, and in 2021 named to the Neihardt Foundation Wall of Fame. In 1990 she traveled to Guatemala with the Center for Global Education as an observer reporting on social and economic conditions among indigenous peoples, in 2001 received a fellowship from the Smithsonian for Diversity Leadership in Museums in Washington, D.C, and in 2007 presented a paper on Neihardt at the 20th Annual Gerard Manley Hopkins Conference in Ireland.
Ms. Gillis helps train docents for Nebraska History’s museum in Lincoln, has served on the Nebraska State Poet Advisory board and as a counselor for the Nebraska Indian Commission’s Sovereign Youth Leadership Camp, provides leadership for College Board AP Exams in World History, an auditor of AP teacher syllabi, was a consultant/instructor for a 3-year Teaching American History national grant awarded to ESU #2, served on the board of the Nebraska Folk Life Network, the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Board, the Nebraska Arts Council Multi-Cultural Grant panel, reviewed the 2004 Nebraska Adventure textbook, reviewed many books for Nebraska History Magazine, was editor of the Neihardt Journal, and served on the 2024-25 State Poet Committee and State Youth Poet Committee.
She serves on the RCA’s Native American Indigenous Ministries Council and its Commission for Nominations, as well as on the West Sioux Classis seminary student care team, is a member of Dismantling Racism Prayer Gatherings, as a worship coordinator, and occasional pulpit supply. Besides the Neihardt Foundation, she also serves on the Boards of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Hospital Center, Atlas of Winnebago, as an Elder with Winnebago Reformed Church, and the Walthill Village Planning Commission.
She is the proud grandmother of four and great grandmother of eleven (2 girls and 9 boys), enjoys traveling, participating in pow-wows, gardening, reading, and collecting Native American art; particularly stereotypical images of Native Americans she uses in programs on that topic.
