Miami Nation of Indiana facts for kids
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 United States  Indiana |
|
| Languages | |
| English, historically Miami-Illinois and French | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Traditional tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Peoria, Illinois, Shawnee and other Algonquian peoples |
The Miami Nation of Indiana is a group of people who are part of the Miami people. They have formed a special organization to represent their community. Their main office is in Peru, Indiana.
For a long time, the Indiana Miami, also called the Eastern Miami, had an agreement with the United States government from June 5, 1854. However, this official recognition ended in 1897. The United States Congress has not yet agreed to officially recognize the Indiana Miami as a separate tribal group from the Western Miami, who are known as the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.
Contents
How the Miami Nation of Indiana is Organized
In 1846, some of the Miami people living in Indiana were moved to lands west of the Mississippi River. This caused the tribe to split into two main groups. The group that stayed in the east became known as the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana. The group that moved west became the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. The U.S. government has recognized the western group's tribal government since 1846. The Indiana Miami were recognized by the federal government in a treaty from June 5, 1854, but this recognition ended in 1897.
The two groups are still separate today. People moving between the two areas has made it tricky to keep track of who belongs to which group.
On September 30, 1937, the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana was officially set up as a non-profit organization in Indiana. This means they are a group that helps their community without making money for themselves. The Indiana Miami's tribal organization and government are based in Peru, Indiana. They are separate from the western tribe, but they are not officially recognized by the federal government as a separate tribe.
The eastern group has an elected government led by a special committee. Brian J. Buchanan is the Chief of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana. To become a member, you need to be related by blood to a current tribal member or to someone listed on the tribal records from 1854, 1889, or 1895.
The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe with its main office in Miami, Oklahoma. They have about 4,800 members, and around 500 of them live in Indiana. In January 2015, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma announced they would open a cultural office in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This office helps with preserving history and offers cultural programs for their members in Indiana.
History of the Indiana Miami
Between 1818 and 1840, the Miami people signed agreements that gave their lands in Indiana to the U.S. government. However, some agreements allowed certain Miami families to stay in Indiana. After many Miami were moved to lands in the Kansas Territory in 1846, the Indiana Miami started working to be recognized as a separate tribal group. They achieved this with a treaty in 1854, but their official federal recognition ended in 1897. Since then, the Indiana Miami have continued trying to get their federal recognition back.
Early Treaties and Land Changes
The Treaty of St. Mary's in 1818 was one of several agreements with the Miami and other tribes. It gave Native American land in central Indiana and Ohio to the U.S. government. But a piece of land in northern Indiana was kept for tribal use. This treaty also gave parts of the Miami reservation lands in Indiana to individual tribal members. This helped many of them avoid being moved in 1846.
In 1826, the Miami tribe signed the Treaty of Mississinewas. They agreed to give most of their reservation lands in Indiana to the United States government. As part of this agreement, twenty land grants were given to the families of Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville and other Miami families. Before this, the tribe had owned the land together. The rest of the tribe was allowed to hunt on open land that became U.S. property, but much of this land was soon given to settlers.
Moving West and Staying in Indiana
Agreements between the U.S. government and the Miami from 1828 to 1840 gave away the Miami's tribal reservation land in Indiana. These agreements also prepared for the tribe's move. Under these treaties, individuals and families who received land in Indiana were allowed to stay. The rest of the tribe moved to lands west of the Mississippi River. First, they went to the Kansas Territory in 1846, then to Indian Territory (which is now part of Oklahoma) in 1871. In total, less than half of the Miami tribe moved. More than half either returned to Indiana or were allowed to stay under the treaty terms.
The first members of the Indiana Miami group date back to October 6, 1846. This is when the main move of the Miami people began in Peru, Indiana. Special land grants from federal treaties allowed 126 Miami people to stay. This included 43 members of Jean Baptiste Richardville's family and 28 members of Francis Godfroy's family. The other 55 individuals were family members of Metocinyah. In 1845, Congress passed a rule that allowed 22 descendants of Frances Slocum and her husband, Shapoconah, to stay in Indiana. These 148 people became the core group of what is now the Miami Nation of Indiana.
More names were added to the Indiana Miami's tribal records in the 1840s and 1850s. In 1847, 17 members of the Eel River band of the Miami were added to the eastern Miami list and allowed to stay in Indiana. Another 101 names were added in 1850. By the mid-1800s, about 250 Miami people were living on an estimated 5,000 acres of Indiana reservation lands. Most of this land was in Miami, Wabash, Grant, and Allen counties. In 1852, Congress added 68 more names to the tribe's payment lists without the Indiana Miami's tribal government's approval. These included more of Chief Richardville's relatives and followers of Papakeechi, another Miami leader. However, neither of these groups had lived with the Indiana Miami or taken part in their community activities.
Seeking Recognition and Rights
After the Miami were moved in 1846, the federal government saw the Miami tribal government in the Kansas Territory as the only official governing body. They closed the Miami offices in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Soon after, the Miami leaders living in Indiana began working to show that their group was a separate tribe from the western Miami. As a federally recognized tribe, the Miami were protected from being forced off their lands. Their treaty lands could not be sold without the U.S. president's permission, and their lands were not taxed. Tribal members were not considered U.S. citizens and could not become citizens without Congress's approval.
A treaty made on June 5, 1854, recognized the eastern Miami in Indiana as a tribal government separate from the western Miami in the Kansas Territory. It gave both groups the power to make their own agreements and confirmed the Indiana Miami's right to decide who could be a member. The treaty also limited payments to individuals listed on tribal records approved by the Miami tribal council. It replaced old payments with a new fund for Miami tribal members. Interest from this new fund was used for payments until 1881, when the remaining money was divided equally among tribal members.
Despite these agreements, Congress allowed 119 more names to be added to the Indiana Miami's tribal lists in 1858 and 1862. This made these individuals eligible for a share of the Miami payments without the Miami tribal council's approval. On September 20, 1867, U.S. Attorney General Henry Stanbery confirmed the Indiana Miami's tribal government status. He allowed the tribe to remove the names of some unauthorized Miami from their membership rolls.
Changes in the Late 1800s
In 1872, Congress passed a law to allow the Miami reservation near Peru, Indiana, to be divided into individual farms. The 5,468 acres of land were split among 63 eligible Miami into farms of 77 to 125 acres. This Indiana land was free from taxes, mortgages, and future sales until January 7, 1881. After that date, the individual owners would become U.S. citizens and could sell the land if they wanted. In 1891, Gabriel Godfroy, Francis Godfroy's son, sold his 220-acre farm in Peru to Benjamin Wallace. This farm became the winter home for several traveling circuses. Besides farming, many Miami people in the Peru area found work on the railroads and taking care of circus animals and farms.
The late 1890s brought big changes for the eastern tribe. In 1895, the Indiana Miami settled legal claims for payments made to some unauthorized Miami from 1851 to 1867, totaling $48,528. In 1896, the Indiana Miami formed "The Tribe of Miami Indians of Indiana." They successfully filed legal claims to collect about $80,715 in interest on payments made to people who weren't supposed to get them. That same year, the Indiana Miami from the Peru area also started legal action to get state taxes back that had been charged on their Indiana lands. The group argued they were a federally recognized tribal group, not U.S. citizens, and so they shouldn't have to pay state taxes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Willis Van Devanter disagreed. On November 23, 1897, he ruled that the Indiana Miami had not been recognized as a tribal group since 1881. This was when the payment fund from the 1854 treaty was fully given out. From Van Devanter's view, the payments in 1881 ended the Indiana Miami's tribal relationship. It also made its members U.S. citizens and gave them individual control of their Indiana land. Because the Indiana Miami were no longer recognized as a tribal group, they lost federal treaty benefits. The federal government was not willing to help them with their claim against the state of Indiana. Between 1909 and 1911, the Indiana Miami continued trying to get federal tribal recognition, but they were not successful. A bill to give them federal tribal status passed the U.S. Senate, but the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass the law.
Modern Efforts for Recognition
After the Indian Reorganization Act was passed in 1934, the eastern Miami started trying again to get federal tribal recognition. On September 30, 1937, the Indiana secretary of state approved a tribal organization called the "Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana." However, Congress kept refusing to officially recognize the Indiana Miami every year from 1938 until 1942. At that point, the tribal council temporarily stopped their efforts during World War II. The group started their activities again after the war. In 1966 and 1969, the Indiana Miami received more money for land agreements made between 1809 and 1818. This amounted to a total of $2,500 paid to each of the 3,066 members on their tribal lists.
In 1980, the Indiana state government recognized the eastern Miami and voted to support their federal recognition. In July 1984, the Indiana Miami officially asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs for federal recognition. However, on July 12, 1990, they were told they did not meet two of the seven requirements for federal recognition. These were "enough proof of governance" and "proof of a unique community." More documents were given to support their request, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs confirmed its decision against federal recognition on June 9, 1992. Later legal efforts did not change this decision.
In 1991, Indiana's US senator, Richard Lugar, introduced a Senate resolution to recognize the Indiana Miami at the federal level. But he stopped supporting it because of concerns from people in his state about certain rights. Federally recognized tribes in other states have set up businesses and related facilities on their sovereign lands.
On July 26, 1993, federal judge Robert Miller ruled that the federal government had recognized the Indiana Miami in the 1854 treaty. He also said the government did not have the power to end that status in 1897. He also ruled that the time limit to appeal their status had passed, which led to more rulings on the case. But in 1996, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma changed its rules to allow any descendant of people on certain historical lists to join. Since then, hundreds of Miami people living in Indiana have become members of the Oklahoma tribe. Today, the Oklahoma Miami tribe has over 7,000 citizens. However, many other Miami people in Indiana still see themselves as a separate group that has been unfairly denied separate federal recognition. The Supreme Court of the United States refused to review the tribe's appeal in 2002.
The Miami Nation of Indiana does not have federal tribal recognition. However, the state government introduced Senate Bill No. 311 in 2011 to officially grant state recognition to the tribe. This bill would have given them the sole power to decide who could be a tribal member. But the bill did not get voted on.
The Meshingomesia Cemetery and Indian School Historic District in Pleasant Township, Grant County, Indiana, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
See also
- List of organizations that self-identify as Native American tribes
- Frances Slocum
