Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Language Revitalization

The United States has a shameful history of displacing its original inhabitants from their homelands and attempting to wipe out their cultures. Such actions had a devastating effect on the Miami people, who, by the 1990s, became scattered across the country, resulting in an ongoing struggle to maintain their cultural identity. In response, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma created the Myaamiaki Eemamwiciki (the Miami Awakening) program.

Two decades later, tribal citizens were forced to move again, this time to Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma. These repeated removals decimated the Myaamia. By the late 1800s, the Tribe—now known as the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma—consisted of fewer than 100 adults. Allotment, a US government policy that isolated tribal citizens on small parcels of land, further undermined the Tribe’s ability to thrive.

In recognition of and concern for the decline, tribal leaders applied for and received a grant from the Administration for Native Americans (part of the US Department of Health and Human Services) to examine what could be done to reverse centuries of damage.

By reviving language and cultural practices that were in danger of being lost forever, the Miami Tribe has redefined—in just two decades— what it means to be Myaamia.

Myaamiaki Eemamwiciki aims to provide every tribal citizen with information about their Myaamia heritage, regardless of where they live and how much contact they have with the Tribe. Myaamiaki Eemamwiciki has helped rebuild a sense of identity within a dispersed population by encouraging all tribal citizens to learn about their ancestral language and lifeways.

The Tribe has experienced a dramatic upswing in the number of citizens who vote in tribal elections. There has been a fourfold increase in participation in the annual General Council meeting, the Tribe’s ultimate governing body, which is open to all citizens above the age of 18. From the beginning of the initiative, tribal leaders made personal commitments to take part in Myaamiaki Eemamwiciki programming, publicly reinforcing the importance of this initiative to the nation’s future.

Today, the Tribe received funding to renovate the Ethel Miller Moore Cultural Education Center and purchased a 45-acre plot by Ft. Wayne Indiana. These two locations will serve the purpose of a new program called nipwaataawi neehi pilakiitaawi: Myaamia Learning and Recovery Plan (MLRP). The MLRP serves as a place where community members can access healthy foods and related food knowledge, heritage-specific outdoor activities, and online educational programming.

Native nations can achieve widespread cultural and community revival by engaging every citizen, no matter their age, location, or previous knowledge. Partnerships between Native nations and institutions of higher education can result in innovative and integrated programming that builds human and cultural capital. The programs that renew tribal culture can rebuild community and re-engage tribal citizens—and in so doing, strengthen tribal sovereignty through political renewal.