Myaamiaki

The Myaamiaki, also known as the Miami, are an Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region. The term Myaamiaki is their own name for “the people.” Traditionally, they inhabited areas along the upper Wabash and Maumee rivers and near Kekionga, a major trading center near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. Their territory extended into parts of what are now Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

The Miami speak a form of the Miami-Illinois language, part of the Algonquian language family. The language of the Myaamiaki and related bands is often described as Miami-Illinois, reflecting close ties among groups in the region. Socially and politically, the Myaamiaki lived in communities organized around kinship and clan networks and sometimes formed loose confederacies with neighboring groups such as the Piankashaw and Wea.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Miami were active in the fur trade and diplomacy with European powers, initially with the French and later with the British and, after American settlement, the United States. Kekionga served as a central hub for commerce and diplomacy. The Miami and allied peoples participated in regional conflicts during the period of intense competition between colonial powers and, later, among American expansionist forces.

In the 19th century, most Myaamiaki were forced to leave their homelands and relocate to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, under U.S. policies of removal. Today, descendants remain in Oklahoma and in Indiana. The federally recognized Miami Tribe of Oklahoma represents the historic Myaamiaki in government affairs, while a separate Indiana community traces its heritage but does not have federal recognition. Cultural preservation and language revitalization efforts continue among Miami descendants.