P.O. Box 1326
Miami, OK 74355
918-542-1445
The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma's history is diverse in the sense that there have been many authors who contributed part in their history. The history that is most widely known, though, is their history which begins from the Jesuit Missionaries in the late sixteenth century. The Jesuit Missionaries were followed by the other intruders, like the government agents, historians and linguists. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is known to themselves in their language as the myaamia which means the downstream people. Their name today is more popularly pronounced as Miami which has been the derivation of their traditional name. The tribe is a federally recognized Sovereign Nation and is acknowledged as the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. The tribe originally hailed from the Great Lakes Region. In their territory in the Great Lakes Region, they are bordered by the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, lower Michigan and lower Wisconsin. The tribe is one of those Indian tribes who were exposed in the diversity of culture upon their contact with the Europeans. The first contact happened in the late sixteenth century which was then immediately followed by the French and the British invasion. The struggle for the power over the Great Lakes region spurred. When the treaty-making period of the government started in the seventeenth century, it proved to be a devastating act for the Indians. The most devastating perhaps is the ceding of the lands of the Native during the Greenville Treaty of 1795. It was President Andrew Jackson who first spelled out the predicament for the Indians when he signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Another treaty, known as the Treaty of 1840 also called for the cession of the tribes that also led to their migration to the areas beyond the Mississippi. Devastating movements succeeded when the ancestors were forcefully put into gunpoint onto the canal boats to the journey leading to the Erie Canal up to the Ohio River. The rest of the tribes were put into steam boats. Upon the arrival at the new Indian Territory, the population of the tribe diminished to only one hundred adults. The first formal constitution of the tribe was adopted in accordance with the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936. It was also in the same year that the tribe was federally recognized as a Native American Tribe. The tribe was formally organized with the Chief as the head of the nation, the Second Chief to assist the head, the Secretary-Treasurer and two Councilmen who are collectively known as the Tribal Business Committee. The Tribal Business Community is in charge of the welfare of the tribe, its economic progression and its social affairs. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma today has more than 3,300 registered members. They are mostly engaged in business enterprises as well as special programs and education. The Myaamia Project at the Miami University, The Myaamia Foundation, The Myaamia Heritage Museum & Archive and the Stables Casino are some of the major projects of the tribe.
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