Miamis

The Miamis, or Miami people, are Indigenous peoples of North America whose traditional homeland lay in the Great Lakes region. Their core territory extended along the Maumee and Wabash rivers, spanning parts of present-day Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The exonym Miami derives from their own name Myaami or Myaamiaki, and it has been used since the colonial era to refer to the group as a whole.

They spoke the Miami-Illinois language, an Algonquian language closely related to languages spoken by neighboring tribes. Today the language is endangered but is the focus of revival efforts led by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and scholars; the Myaamia Center at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, supports language learning and cultural preservation.

Historically, the Miami formed villages with mixed farming and hunting economies and operated within extensive trade networks with French, British, and other Indigenous groups. In the 17th and 18th centuries they played a significant role in the fur trade and shifting alliances during European colonization and conflict in the Great Lakes region. In the 19th century, mounting pressure from U.S. expansion led to the removal of many Miami from Indiana and nearby lands to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) between the 1840s and 1850s; smaller groups remained in or returned to portions of Indiana and other areas.

Today there are two primary groups associated with the Miami name: the federally recognized Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the non-federally recognized Miami Nation of Indiana, whose members maintain cultural and familial ties to the historic Miami homeland. The term Miamis is also used in place names and institutions, such as the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.