Aacimotaatiiyankwi

wiiyaakiteeheelo weehki-kihkatwe ‘Happy New Year!’

On February 17th, around 70 Myaamiaki ‘Miami people’ gathered at the council house in Noošonke Siipionki ‘Miami, Oklahoma’ to celebrate weehki-kihkatwe ‘the lunar New Year’. For us, as a lunar calendar culture, this marks the beginning of a new cycle of ecologically named months, which we call kiilhsooki ‘moons’. This was the 7th day of Mahkoonsa Kiilhswa ‘Young Bear Moon’, our first moon of the year and typically the last moon of peepoonki ‘winter’ before we enter the transitional period of meeloohkamiki ‘spring’.   

As we enjoyed pizza and a salad bar, we learned about our lunar calendar and the ecological connections associated with each lunar month. This helps us understand the relationships between Myaamiaki, the environment, and all the inhabitants with whom we share the landscape. We discussed how certain observations lead to specific cultural actions. For instance, when we hear the call of wiihkoowia ‘whippoorwill’ during Wiihkoowia Kiilhswa ‘Whippoorwill Moon’ and see their nests on the ground, we know it is safe to plant seeds, such as miincipi ‘corn.’ And when we see kiišiinkwia ‘ironweed’ blooming during Kiišiinkwia Kiilhswa ‘Green Corn Moon’, we know that corn will be in its green stage and may need to be protected from feeding animals.  

After dinner, we got to enjoy a live band and earn tickets for the prize table by playing Myaamia games and using Myaamiaataweenki ‘the Myaamia language’. The prize table, which has become a constant and popular fixture at events, was filled with fun goodies for all ages. Among the games played were mahkisina meehkintiinki ‘the moccasin game’, and seenseewinki ‘the plum stone/bowl game’. This year, we introduced a scavenger hunt bingo game where attendees were rewarded with stamps on their cards for expanding their cultural knowledge, such as learning about the treaty signatures above the entry doors, as well as for their community interaction. In addition, we enjoyed glo-LED mini golf, glo-LED shuffleboard, glo-Skee-Ball, and a virtual reality roller coaster.  

With the help from the Myaamia Maker Space, we had fun doing activities, such as making single-strand bead bracelets and buttons using Myaamiaataweenki, as well as designing ribbonwork-inspired bookmarks. The partnership with the Maker Space also allowed us to create and launch a new interactive game created to teach the names and order of the Myaamia moons. We also enjoyed information tables teaching us about the sugaring process from black walnut trees and the publication of our new book, myaamia kiilhsooki: Myaamia Moons, Seasons, & Years, which was just recently mailed to each Tribal household. 

Mihši neewe ‘big thanks’ to all the staff and tribal members that made this event a success! We hope to see you all next year!  

 Join us April 20th for, peekitahamankwi: Lacrosse Fest! More information is coming to the MYAAMIAKI Facebook page. 

 For more information about the myaamia lunar calendar, lunar new year, and myaamia kiilhsooki, check out our Ecology page.