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2016 Myaamiaki Conference

2016 Program

Presentations and Schedule

9:15 am | Welcome and Opening Song

Presented by: George Strack, George Ironstrack, and Jarrid Baldwin


9:30 am | eempaapiikinamankwi kineepwaayoneminaani (Picking up the threads of our knowledge)

Presented by: Daryl Baldwin, Director, Myaamia Center at Miami University


9:45 am | Introducing the Miami-Illinois Digital Archives and the Myaamia Online Dictionary

Presented by: David Costa, Myaamia Center, Director, Office of Language Research; Jarrid Baldwin, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

Abstract

The Myaamia Center has released two new tools to support our community's work in language research and education: The Miami-Illinois Digital Archive (MIDA) and the new Myaamia language dictionary app for iPhone and iPad. MIDA is a digital archive database designed to provide access and search capability, for both tribal linguists and community revitalizationists, to the two and a half centuries of documentation of the Miami-Illinois language. The dictionary app is designed to provide convenient access to the language for learners and teachers. This talk mainly describes the challenges of working with digitized archival materials and how MIDA has filled the software tool gap between archives, linguists, and revitalizationists. The talk ends with a demonstration of the new dictionary app and a challenge to the audience to compete for prizes for those who use the app to translate Myaamia messages found in today's conference program.


10:15 am | Differences in Pre- and Post-Removal Myaamionki Ecology and Its Effects on the Myaamiaki

Presented by: Mike Gonella, Santa Barbara Community College

Abstract

The ecology of myaamionki (myaamia lands) varies significantly between Indiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Although there are commonalities between these bioregions there exist dramatic differences in climate, vegetation, soils, and wildlife that made removal from Indiana a challenging adjustment for myaamiaki (The Myaamia people). For a culture and language that is deeply rooted in the landscape, these ecological differences necessitated changes to adapt to the new environment—particularly agricultural and dietary changes. In this presentation, I compare the historic ecologies of pre- and post-removal myaamionki (1840-1880) and infer what these changes meant to those being removed, describe examples of adaptive technologies that evolved, and discuss how these ecological differences across myaamionki affect revitalization efforts today.


10:45 am | Validating the Impact of Picking Up Cultural Threads

Presented by: Susan Mosley-Howard, Professor and Myaamia Center Faculty Affiliate; Haley Strass, Iowa State University and Miami University Tribal alumna

Abstract

The journey of any individual or group is filled with experiences that impact and shape lives. Just as we attempt to record our life's journey with pictures, movies, journals or stories, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has sought to record its language and cultural revitalization efforts. The Myaamia Center has been a part of that documenting process and this session will present some of the “lessons learned” regarding the impact of the Miami Nation's language and cultural revitalization efforts. The presenters will highlight observations obtained from a group of Miami tribal students attending Miami University, as well as more intently highlight the journey of one Miami tribal student in particular to illustrate the impact of tribal efforts.


11:15 am | Weaving Myaamia Culture: Creating Myaamia Space through Revitalization and Cultural Education

Presented by: Joshua Sutterfield, Miami University Tribal alumnus

Abstract

Through language and cultural revitalization, certain “cultural threads” of the community web, or fabric, have re-emerged after forced removals, the loss of land and people, and colonization. Cultural threads are those elements that over time have distinguished Myaamia collective identity. Each thread is an aggregate in the larger web, or tapestry, of the Myaamia experience, and they play a role in collectively holding the community together. Individual Myaamia people can also use these threads to weave their own personal identity, which can be thought of as “cultural regalia.” When groups of Myaamiaki gather together to wear their resultant regalia they create cultural spaces; Myaamia spaces. I argue that it is in these spaces that Myaamiaki most fruitfully express, perform, and reinforce cultural identity. Myaamia space produces an environment in which Myaamia identity can easily be expressed and thereby reinforced. This paper examines how Myaamia space is created through the weaving of the threads of language in the public performance of the Myaamia language in a greeting ritual.


11:45 am - 12:15 pm | Visit Presenter Tables


12:15-1:45 pm | Lunch (On Your Own)


2:00 pm | niwiinsooninaana: Utilizing Archival Documentation to Recover Traditional Names and Naming Practices

Presented by: Meghan Dorey, Archivist, Myaamia Heritage Museum and Archive

Abstract

As tribal members re-engage with their heritage language of myaamiaataweenki, interest in traditional names and naming practices has increased. These names are found in treaties, missionary journals, annuity payment rolls, government censuses and other records in repositories all over the country. This presentation will profile a project undertaken by the Miami Nation Cultural Resources Office to better understand the names recorded in archival records, and show how this understanding is assisting our community in re-establishing traditional naming practices.


2:30 pm | What is Myaamia Montessori Education?

Presented by: Tracy Hirata-Edds, University of Kansas; Jessie Seddelmeyer, Miami University Tribal alumna

Abstract

In the summer of 2015, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma launched the Saakaciweeta Program for five to nine year olds in order to provide language and cultural experiences for children too young to attend the Eewansaapita Summer Youth Educational Experience program. As a part of the ongoing efforts to develop the Saakaciweeta Program, staff have begun to explore how the Montessori Method might integrate well with the mantepyawi (lodge frame) of Myaamia educational values.

In this presentation, we will discuss cultural and linguistic components that we hope the children will experience at Saakaciweeta and detail how these experiences will echo, in a differentiated manner, what their older family members are enjoying at Eewansaapita. Additionally, we will depict a day in the life of a Montessori learner, highlighting aspects of the Montessori approach that rest nicely on the interwoven web of our shared Myaamia knowledge system.


3:00 pm | The Myaamia Tribute Project: A Collaboration of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University

Presented by: Bob Keller, Miami University, Student Advisory Committee

Abstract

Representatives from the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (MTO) leadership and Miami University (MU) have been working together on a project to create an outdoor tribute to the Miami Tribe on the Oxford Campus. This presentation will explain the origin of the project and the programmatic goals. The site selection process will be discussed as well as the design concept that has been developed over the past several months by a committee comprised of Myaamia Center staff, Myaamia/Miami students, MTO leaders and the MU Planning Architecture and Engineering staff. The presentation will follow the planning and design process through selection and placement of key design elements onto the site, the relationship of these elements to each other organizationally, creation of an overall site aesthetic, integration of important plant materials, cultural symbols, educational tools, and functional areas for outdoor classes, special events and informal gathering. Opportunities for field laboratory studies, expansion of the campus storm water management system, and long range planning for future phases will be shared with the audience.


3:30 pm | Closing Comments

Presented by: Daryl Baldwin, Director, Myaamia Center, Miami University

Presenter Bios