The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma ( mia, myaamionki noošonke siipionki, ''meaning: "Miami homelands along the Neosho River'') is the only
federally recognized Native American tribe of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
Indians in the United States.
[Koenig, Pamela]
Miami.
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture.'' (retrieved 24 Feb 09) The people are descended from Miami who were
removed in the 19th century from their traditional territory in present-day Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Language
Tribal members traditionally spoke the
Miami-Illinois language
Miami-Illinois (endonym: , ) also known as Irenwa, or Irenwe is an indigenous Algonquian language spoken in the United States, primarily in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, western Ohio and adjacent areas along the Mississippi River by the Miami ...
, one of the
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically simi ...
, but few do today. The tribe is partners with
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
, and one result of that partnership is the Myaamia Center. The Myaamia Center is engaged in the work of language and culture revitalization. The Myaamia language is particularly well-documented in early sources (including a complete Illinois-French dictionary). The tribe and the university work together to conduct research projects to revitalize Miami language and culture, and to offer university students opportunities to visit and work with the tribe on various projects.
Government and programs
The headquarters of the Miami Tribe are based in
Miami, Oklahoma
Miami ( ) is a city in and county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom.
This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capital of ...
. Of the 3,908 enrolled tribal members, 775 live in the state of Oklahoma. Enrollment in the tribe is based on documented lineal descent;
[ they do not have a ]blood quantum
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to estab ...
requirement.
Douglas Lankford is the Chief of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. The Miami Tribe issues its own tribal vehicle tags and operate their own housing authority.[
''Aatotankiki Myaamiaki'' is the Miami Nation quarterly newspaper. The tribe is in the process of building the Myaamia Complex, for the benefit of tribal elders, to house the food program and tribal library.
]
Economic development
In the interest of providing economic development for the community, the tribe created Miami Nation Enterprises, which oversees tribally owned companies. These include Miami Business Services, which provides personnel, information technologies, and business supplies; Miami Designs, which provides graphic art and promotional materials; Miami Cineplex, a movie theater and arcade; and TSI Global Companies, a systems integrator with expertise in audiovisual systems, low voltage cabling, security and access control, as well as electrical contracting. Additionally the tribe owns one smokeshop and two casinos (Prairie Sun and Prairie Moon). Their estimated annual tribal economic impact is $16,700,000.[
]
Culture
The tribe holds an annual powwow late in June and a stomp dance every winter in late January. The Myaamia Center continues research directed by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to revitalize language and culture.
History
The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is an Eastern Woodlands tribe, who traditionally spoke the Miami-Illinois language
Miami-Illinois (endonym: , ) also known as Irenwa, or Irenwe is an indigenous Algonquian language spoken in the United States, primarily in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, western Ohio and adjacent areas along the Mississippi River by the Miami ...
, a language of the Algonquin family. The name 'Miami' derives from ''Myaamia'' (plural ''Myaamiaki''), the tribe's autonym
Autonym may refer to:
* Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym
* Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name
See also
* Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...
(name for themselves) in their Algonquian language; it appears to have been derived from an older term meaning 'downstream people’. Some scholars contended the Miami called themselves the ''Twightwee'' (also spelled ''Twatwa''), supposedly an onomatopoeic reference to their sacred
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
bird, the sandhill crane
The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...
. However, recent studies have shown that ''Twightwee'' derives from the Delaware language
The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages ( del, Lënapei èlixsuwakàn), are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family. Munsee and Unami, spoken abor ...
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
name for the Miamis, ''tuwéhtuwe'', a name of unknown etymology. Some Miami have stated that this was only a name used by other tribes for the Miami, and not their autonym. They also use ''Mihtohseeniaki'', "the people." The Miami continue to employ this autonym today.
Miami society was divided into clans, led by hereditary chiefs. They had a patrilineal
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...
system of kinship, with descent and inheritance passing through the paternal lines. Children were considered born into their father's clans but clan mothers were highly influential who had approval over hereditary chiefs.
They constructed villages with long house
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America.
Many were built from timber and often rep ...
s, occupied by related families. The Miami were farmers and were known for developing a unique type of white corn. Traditionally, they played double ball, the moccasin game, and darts.
Like all tribes who had reservations in what became Oklahoma, in the late 19th century the Miami endured their communal lands being broken up by the Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pres ...
, which allotted land to individual households with the thought to encourage assimilation as farmers. In practice, it resulted in the loss of much tribal land, as speculators took advantage of the Miami. Similarly, the Curtis Act of 1898
The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act; it resulted in the break-up of tribal governments and communal lands in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasa ...
ended tribal government and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs became an intermediary administration.
The Miami persevered and in the 1930s, they re-organized their own tribal government under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, independent of the Peoria people
The Peoria, also Peouaroua, are a Native American people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma headquartered in Miami, Oklahoma.
The Peoria people are descendants of the Illinois Confederation. The ...
. The Miami ratified their constitution on August 16, 1939, which established a representative government with elected council and chief. In 1996, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma changed its constitution to permit any descendant of people on certain historical roles to join, and since then hundreds of Indiana-based Miami have become members. Today the Oklahoma-based Miami tribe has about 5,600 enrolled members. 6
On February 5, 2014, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R, OK-2) introduced the bill To revoke the charter of incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of that tribe (H.R. 4002; 113th Congress) into the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. The bill would accept the request of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to revoke the charter of incorporation issued to that tribe and ratified by its members on June 1, 1940. Based on information provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Congressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress.
Ins ...
(CBO) estimates that implementing the legislation would have no effect on the federal budget. The tribe has not been operating under the charter for the last several decades. Enacting H.R. 4002 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
Pay as you go or PAYG may refer to:
Finance
* Pay-as-you-go tax, or pay-as-you-earn tax
* Pay-as-you-go pension plan
* PAYGO, the practice in the US of financing expenditures with current funds rather than borrowing
* PAUG, a structured financia ...
procedures do not apply. H.R. 4002 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA''(pdf)https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1995-title2/html/USCODE-1995-title2-chap25.htm (text)] restricts the federal government of the United States, federal imposition of unfunded mandates on ...
. The bill was scheduled to be voted on by the House on June 23, 2014. The Department of the Interior testified that they had no objection to the charter being revoked saying that the "decision whether to maintain or revoke such a charter ultimately should be the Tribe's."
In January 2015, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma built a cultural resources office in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
, which will include providing services to tribal members who live in Indiana.
The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has ties with Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
in OhioIndianz.com May 10, 2018
/ref>
Notable tribal members
* Daryl Baldwin, language revitalization
*Katrina Mitten
Katrina Mitten (born 1962, Huntington, Indiana) is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American artist. She is enrolled in the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.
Mitten is beadwork, beadwork artist, whose embroidery style of beadwork has earne ...
, beadwork artist
See also
*Miami Nation of Indiana
The Miami Nation of Indiana (also known as the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana) is a group of individuals who identify as Miami and have organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The group's headquarters are at Peru, Indiana ...
Notes
References
*Anson, Bert
''The Miami Indians''
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2000. .
External links
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
official website
The Myaamia Center at Miami University
Miami Nation Enterprises
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Algonquian peoples
Native American tribes in Oklahoma
Federally recognized tribes in the United States