The Native Omahans Club, Inc.
Our Story
The Native Omahans Club, Inc. was established in October 1976 with a singular purpose: to create a homecoming celebration for the people of North Omaha — a gathering that would give people who'd moved away a reason to come back, and people who'd stayed a reason to celebrate where they are.
What started as a vision shared between two women became one of the most enduring cultural traditions in the city's history. For nearly five decades, the Native Omaha Club has served as the official host and organizing body behind Native Omaha Days, guiding the celebration through every cycle and ensuring it remains rooted in the community it was built for.
The organization is not a committee. It is not a planning group or an event brand. It is the founding institution behind Native Omaha Days and the only one authorized to lead the homecoming that bears its name. That distinction matters, and it's one the founders were intentional about from the beginning.
The History
Nearly fifty years
of coming home.
- 1976
The Native Omaha Club is founded by Vera Johnson and Bettie McDonald.
- 1977
The first Native Omaha Days celebration brings North Omaha home.
- 1977–present
The homecoming returns every two years, becoming one of Omaha's most enduring cultural traditions.
- 2027
Our next homecoming celebration!
Vera Johnson & Bettie McDonald
Native Omaha Days exists because of two women: Vera Johnson and Bettie McDonald.
In the mid-1970s, North Omaha was a neighborhood in transition. People were leaving — for jobs, school, or opportunities that took them to other cities and other states. Families that had lived in the neighborhood for generations were building new lives elsewhere, but the ties to the neighborhood didn't break. People still thought of North Omaha as home, even when they hadn't been back in years. They still talked about the streets they grew up on, the schools they went to, and the people they missed.
Vera and Bettie saw that. They understood that a community doesn't stop being a community just because its people scatter. They believed that if you gave folks a reason to come home — a real reason, not a formality, not a civic event designed by people who didn't grow up there — they would. So in October 1976, they founded the Native Omahans Club, Inc. The following year, 1977, they launched the first Native Omaha Days celebration.
They were right. People came home and they kept coming home, every two years, for nearly half a century.
What Vera and Bettie built was more than an event. It was an institution — a community organization with the structure, authority, and care to protect the homecoming they'd created. They knew that without an organization behind it, the celebration would be vulnerable to being co-opted, diluted, or lost. So they made sure it had a home.
Both Vera and Bettie have since passed, but their legacy is the ground everything stands on. The Native Omahans Club, Inc. exists to honor what they started — to protect it, grow it, and to make sure it continues with the same heart and intention they brought to it from the very first day.
Without them, none of this would exist. This organization carries their names forward not as a tribute to the past, but as a commitment to the future they imagined!
Who Carries It Forward
The Members
Native Omaha Days doesn't happen on its own. Behind every homecoming is the membership of the Native Omahans Club, Inc. — the people who lead the strategy, planning, and overall execution of every celebration. They're the ones in the meetings, on the phones, and on the ground making sure that when the community comes home, everything is ready. Every two years, the homecoming returns because they carry it.
Officers
Kimberly C. Sherrod-Barnes
President
Maria (Rhea) Summers
Vice President
Angela Moore
Treasurer
David Kimble
Secretary
Karen Curry
Financial Secretary
Members
Geraldine Alexis
Marlon Brewer
Quinceola Cook
Brenda Lucas-Cooley
Teresa (Coco) Cotton
Lynette Dacus
Starr Fleming
Andrea Foster
Tierra Harper
Fabian Hayden
Aaron Hill
Sheila Jackson
Jovan Johnson
Leo Louis II
Alisa Luker
Precious McKesson
Felicia Merritt
Marc Nichols
Bonita Sims
Marily Sims
Thelma Sims
Arthur Smith
Ashlei Spivey
Angel Starks
Aleah Stennis
Leigh Ann Thomas
Vickey Vaughn
Jean Watkins (Auxiliary Member)
Looking Ahead
The next chapter.
The Native Omahans Club, Inc isn't just preserving a tradition — it's building toward the next chapter. The 2027 homecoming is on the horizon, and with it comes an opportunity to expand what Native Omaha Days can be while staying true to what it's always been: a celebration of community, a reason to come home, and a testament to what Vera and Bettie started nearly fifty years ago.
For the first time, the organization has a dedicated digital home, a place where the community can stay connected between homecomings, where the history is preserved and accessible, and where the next generation can discover what Native Omaha Days is and why it matters.
If you want to be part of what's next, as a volunteer, a sponsor, a partner, or simply someone who shows up — we want to hear from you!