Dragonfly‘s sixth Diversity Cafe on October 21, 2021, features representatives from the Myaamia Center of Miami University. The Center, a Miami Tribe of Oklahoma initiative located within an academic setting, serves the needs of the Myaamia people, Miami University, and partner communities through research, education, and outreach that promote Myaamia language, culture, knowledge, and values.

Through this collaboration, audience members will have the opportunity to learn about the history and understanding of the regional landscape from the Myaamia perspective. The Myaamia people were the native people in the Miami River Valley prior to European colonization in the 1800s; Miami University’s name reflects the name of the region inhabited by the Myaamia. The Myaamia Center’s perspectives of reconnecting with the land of the Myaamia people will enable us to reflect on our own, perhaps disrupted and hopefully regenerating, connections to the land wherever the members of our global Dragonfly community are. 

Pictured: The Myaamia Heritage Logo symbolizes the unique relationship between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University. The design is a reference to Myaamia ribbonwork, a traditional Miami Tribe art form.

• “Myaamionki ‘place of the Miami’” 
• Thursday, October 21, 2021, 7:30 p.m. ET

This Dragonfly Diversity Cafe is part of a developing series of virtual talks focusing on international conservation, urban and rural ecology, inquiry-based education, nature connections, and other relevant topics. Our Diversity Cafes aim to elevate marginalized perspectives on diversity, equality, and inclusion-related topics in an environmental and conservation setting. The invited speakers will explore topical ideas, research, and experience in the first half of the Cafe hour. In the latter half, the Cafe will open up for discussion and audience participation to engage with the speaker(s) and their ideas.