Julius Meyer and Adoption

Biography

Meyer was one of the earliest Jewish settlers in the present state of Nebraska. He moved to Omaha in 1866 as a trader with the Native Americans, learned at least six Indian languages and was adopted by the Pawnee tribe, with the name Cy Headed White Chief with One Tongue (probably a reference to his honesty in business, as whites were normally considered to be split-tongued, or deceivers).

He later became an official government interpreter and accompanied a group of Native Americans to the Paris Exposition of 1900.

References

Encyclopaedia Judaica, edited by Cecil Roth. (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1971) ("Nebraska")