Miami (tribe)
The Miami tribe is a Native American group originally located in the Green Bay, Wisconsin region before migrating to the southern end of Lake Michigan. The name "Miami" is believed to derive from the Ojibwa word "oumamik," meaning "people of the peninsula." Historically, the tribe had a complex political structure centered around clans, with leadership involving village councils, band councils, and a tribal council. The Miami were known for their strong agricultural practices, cultivating crops such as corn, melons, squash, and beans, as well as engaging in annual buffalo hunts.
In the late 18th century, the Miami played a significant role in resisting European American encroachment, with notable leaders like Chief Michikinikwa (Little Turtle) leading successful campaigns against U.S. forces before facing defeat. Following a series of treaties and forced relocations throughout the 19th century, many Miami members were moved to Oklahoma, where the federally recognized Miami Tribe of Oklahoma now has over 4,000 members. Meanwhile, a smaller group in Indiana remains recognized at the state level, operating as a nonprofit organization. The tribe's cultural heritage includes spiritual practices like the Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, highlighting their traditional beliefs and healing practices. Today, the Miami continue to navigate their identity and heritage within the context of contemporary society.
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Miami (tribe)
- CULTURE AREA: Northeast
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Algonquian
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Oklahoma, Indiana
- POPULATION SIZE: 4,477 (1990 U.S. Census)
The Miami occupied the Green Bay, Wisconsin, region in the seventeenth century but later migrated to the southern end of Lake Michigan. The name Miami is likely derived from the Ojibwa word oumamik, meaning “people of the peninsula.”
The Miami people had a fairly sophisticated political structure, based largely on the clan system. Each Miami belonged to their father’s clan. Clan chiefs in each village made up a council that ruled the community. Village councils sent delegates to band councils, which, in turn, sent chiefs to a tribal council.
The Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, was a hallmark of Indigenous life. It consisted of priests noted for their special curing powers. Other Miami shamans used roots and herbs to combat disease. According to most accounts, the sun was the principal deity for the Miami and was called the “Master of Life.”
Miami villages consisted of pole-frame houses covered by rush mats. Each village usually had a large council house for council meetings and ceremonies. The Miami was famed for its superior strains of corn; the Miami also grew melons, squash, beans, and pumpkins. Buffalo were hunted once a year.
Originally, the Miami consisted of six separate bands: Atchatchakangouen, Kilatika, Mengakonkia, Pepicokia, Wea, and Piankashaw. The first three united into the Miami proper, and the Pepicokia were absorbed by the Wea and Piankashaw. The Wea and the Piankashaw were separate entities from the Miami, and they were politically independent by 1818, the year they set up separate tribal councils.
During the eighteenth century, the Miami in Michigan migrated to the headwaters of the Maumee in Ohio. Similarly, the Wea and Piankashaw moved to the Wabash region of Indiana. In the late eighteenth century, the Miami fought a valiant battle to save their lands from the tide of White settlement.
The Miami War Chief Michikinikwa, known to the White people as Little Turtle, led a coalition of Miami, Shawnee, Potawatomi, and others against United States troops. Little Turtle’s warriors gained a major victory over General Arthur St. Clair on November 4, 1791. The Americans lost 647 soldiers in the battle and 217 were wounded, one of the worst defeats the United States Army ever experienced against Indigenous Americans.
The Indigenous American triumph was short-lived. Little Turtle and Shawnee leader Weyapiersenwah, or Blue Jacket, were decisively defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. By the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, the Indigenous Americans ceded most of Ohio and a slice of Indiana to the United States.
Between 1832 and 1840, the Miami were forcibly relocated to reservations in Kansas. Following a separate course, the Wea and Piankashaw joined the Peoria. Both the Peoria and the Miami were later moved to the Indigenous American Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1867. Most of their descendants live in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. A few Miami people avoided removal to the south and stayed in their original homelands. Their descendants, mostly of mixed ancestry, live around Peru, Indiana. The federally recognized Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has over 4,000 members and owns a number of local businesses in Miami, Oklahoma. The Miami Nation of Indiana's federal recognition was terminated in 1895; in 1993, a federal judge ruled that the government had not had the authority to revoke recognition, but that the statute of limitations for the Miami to appeal their status had expired. The Nation, recognized by the state of Indiana, consists of 300 to 500 people and is organized as a 501c(3) nonprofit.
Bibliography
"About Us." Miami Nation, www.miamination.com/about-us. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Flook, Chris. Native Americans of East-Central Indiana. The History Press, 2016.
Glenn, Elizabeth, and Stewart Rafert. The Native Americans. Indiana Historical Society Press, 2009.
"Miami." Oklahoma Historical Society, www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=MI001. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Temple, Wayne. "Indian Villages of the Illinois Country: Historic Tribes." Illinois State Museum, 1958, www.museum.state.il.us/publications/epub/indian‗villages‗il‗country‗wayne‗temple.pdf. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Waldman, Carl. "Miami." Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, 3rd ed., Checkmark Books, 2006, pp. 162–63.