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MACY, Neb. — Dwight Howe motioned to a group of photographs on the wall — black-and-white portraits of Native Americans in traditional clothing. The kind of image you might see in a history book.

When he was young, he said, this was how he saw Umónhon — something from the distant past. Something apart from him.

Today, Howe, nearing 60, sees a similar attitude in many of his K-8 students at St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, where he teaches classes in Umónhon, the native language of the Omaha Tribe. It’s his job, he said, to show his students that their language — their culture — is part of who they are.

But these kids, he said, face a steeper challenge in learning to speak the language: Time, including decades of forced assimilation, has reduced the number of fluent speakers to just a couple dozen. Many are elderly. Howe’s students and their peers, he said, have fewer and fewer adults around to teach them.

For years, tribal leaders and language instructors have worried about the uncertain future of the language. But now, they may have reason for optimism.