Indian History

The Miami Indians Today...

About 600 Miami live in Miami County and today the tribal complex is located on the corner of Miami and Sixth Street, at One Miami Square.  The tribe purchased the complex in 1990 and partially supports itself through its bingo games.  It also runs Little Turtle Daycare Center, sponsors Alcoholics Anonymous and runs a shelter for battered men and women.  The complex also houses archives, a museum and offices for people like the tribe's spiritual leader, Wap Shing.  There are also a number of rooms offering workshops to discover their history and heritage and learn about of variety of Native American crafts.

In the Beginning...

In the early 1600's the Miami founded their capital of Kekionga.  They may also have started a trading post of sorts at the natural rock formation called Seven Pillars east of Peru on the north bank of the Mississinewa River.  With the beginning of the 1700's, the next 100 years witnessed the birth and subsequent rise of Little Turtle and the Miami "Golden Age".  In 1794, although still undefeated in battle, Little Turtle and his white son-in-law, William Wells, tried to establish peace between the whites and the Indians.  The whites outnumbered the Indians in what became the Indiana Territory by 1800.  Though the chief signed the Treaty of Grouseland in 1805 which gave up Miami, Eel and Wea Indian claims to all of southeastern Indiana, he and Wells wanted northern Indiana to remain an Indian reserve forever.  Little Turtle died in July 1812, at Wells' home in Fort Wayne.  The war of 1812, which had started the month before, would see the Miami fight one last battle against the whites.

In 1818, with the Treaty of St. Mary's, the Miami gave up a major part of their tribal lands which allowed whites to settle the central third of Indiana except for 6 reservations.  The Miami had become the northeastern-most tribe confronting white expansion.  An 1826 treaty was meant to protect the Miami villages north of the Wabash River, but in the 1834 Treaty of the Forks of the Wabash, the village reserves were reduced.  The tribe continued to give up land, but it was never enough.  President Andrew Jackson refused to accept the 1834 treaty because the treaty didn't provide for the emigration of the Miami from Indiana.  Indian emigration had become a federal policy after the Federal Removal Act of 1830 was passed.  The Miami refused to give up their reservations even after new negotiations in 1836, and the U.S. Senate never approved the treaty.

By now, time was running out for the Miamis.  White expansion and progress would force the Indians' eviction from their homeland.  Finally, in 1840, chiefs Richardville, Godfroy, Lafountaine and Meshingomesia signed a new Treaty of the Forks of the Wabash.  The treaty allowed their families and some others to stay behind in Indiana and retain some land, but reportedly at least half the tribe was supposed to relocate to the western frontier by 1845.  Many Miamis didn't go, so soldiers came for them in 1846.

Even after relocation to Kansas, white expansion still forced many Miamis from their land due to local taxation throughout the late 1800s.  Miami leaders asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs for help, who then asked the Assistant Attorney General in 1897 for a ruling of taxability of Miami lands.  The assistant ruled the Indiana Miami had no rights and the Indiana tribe lost its recognition by the federal government as a tribe.  Even still, the Miami leaders didn't give up.  Beginning in 1911, the leaders worked with their Congressmen to pass legislation restoring Miami rights.  In 1937, the Indiana tribe succeeded in obtaining a state charter, though not federal recognition.  It was during the years of WWII that nearly all the remaining tribal land was lost.

In 1979, Congress set up a way that unrecognized tribes could seek federal recognition.  After extensive research of tribal history and accumulating documents to back up their requests, the Indiana Miami submitted a petition to the B.I.A. in 1984 for recognition yet again.  In the petition, the Miami of Indiana had to meet 7 requirements, but despite all its documentation, in 1985 the tribe was again turned down because of a list of "Obvious Deficiencies".  All of these deficiencies have been have been corrected, but the Supreme Court again refused to hear the petition in 2002.  The Miami still believe it's a matter of "when" not "if" they get federal recognition.

For more information, please contact:

Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana, 80 W. 6th Street, Peru, Indiana, 46970   (765)473-9631