Teaching about other cultures can be a unique challenge for instructors in the classroom. Recognizing this gap in her curriculum, Stephanie Danker, a professor of Art Education at Miami University, hoped to fill some gaps in her class preparing preservice art educators to gain K-12 teaching licensures in Ohio. In 2017, she reached out to…
Author: akooka (Stella Beerman)
Citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Communications specialist for the Myaamia Center, the institutional home for National Breath of Life.
Maple Sugaring 2024
As peepoonki ‘winter’ transitions into neepinwiki ‘summer’, many Myaamiaki ‘Myaamia people’ have closed their siihsipaahkwikaana ‘maple sugar camps.’ Maple sugaring season tends to be during Mahkoonsa Kiilhswa ‘Young Bear Moon’ and Aanteekwa Kiilhswa ‘Crow Moon’ which roughly corresponds with January through April on the Gregorian calendar. During this time of the year, temperatures tend to…
Myaamia Center Makes Annual Trip to Winter Gathering
The annual Winter Gathering and Stomp Dance is one of the major events hosted by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, bringing Myaamiaki ‘Myaamia people’ together in Noošonke Siipionki ‘Miami, Oklahoma’ to celebrate Myaamia culture and receive important updates within the community. Since 2001, this trip has also served as a unique opportunity for the Myaamia…
wiiyaakiteeheelo tapaalintioni kiišikahki ‘Celebrating a Day of Love’
Tomorrow (2/14) many of us will celebrate tapaalintioni kiišikahki ‘a day of love.’ Regardless of how you celebrate, Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to remind those around you how much you appreciate and care for them. Megan Sekulich, graphic designer at the Myaamia Center, with help from the Language Research office, has created Valentine’s…
Wrapping up the Fall Semester at Miami University
It’s hard to believe another Fall Semester has already finished at Miami University! As many of the Myaamia Heritage students have left campus for Winter Break, we want to reflect on what we accomplished this past semester. Reflecting on Fall ’23 In August, the Myaamia Center welcomed a cohort of 12 new students to the…
2023 Eemamwiciki Summer Program Recap and Outcomes
Each year, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma hosts the Eemamwiciki Summer Programming for tribal members ages 6 and older. This 5-day experience is designed to teach participants about Myaamia language and culture while having fun and bonding with community members. This past Summer, the theme of the programming was Kiikinaana ‘Our Homes.’ In June 2023,…
Tribal Leadership Visit Miami University for Celebrating Miami: Tribe and University Week
Earlier this month, November 6-11, 2023, the Myaamia Center and Miami University Athletics Department held the annual Celebrating Miami: Tribe and University Week. During the week, each athletic event highlights the relationship between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University, and each athletic team wears uniforms featuring the Myaamia Heritage Logo. Myaamia Heritage students…
Aašitehkawaataawi, ‘let’s meet’ Madison Bastress
Madison Bastress is a Ph.D. candidate in history at New York University, studying at the Myaamia Center as a visiting scholar this semester. Madison studies late-seventeenth and eighteenth-century histories of the Ohio River Valley, with a focus on place-specific ecological relations and changes over time. Myaamia language, culture, and history are one portion of the…
Myaamia Center’s NAATeam Begins Next Phase of Nahi-Mihtohseeniwinki ‘Living Well’ Research
The Myaamia Center’s Nipwaayoni Acquisition and Assessment Team (NAATeam) has spent the past year exploring the meaning of nahi-mihtohseeniwinki ‘living well’ through the lens of Myaamia language and culture and what it means for Myaamiaki to live well in the contemporary community today. Haley Shea, a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and director…
neepwaaminciki maaciihkaahtoowaaci: Myaamia Heritage students kick off the school year at Miami University
As we head into mid-September, the weather has felt like summer here in Oxford, Ohio, but regardless, the fall semester is in full swing at Miami University. We welcomed Myaamia Heritage students back to campus with our first Myaamia Heritage class and annual student retreat during the first week of classes. While this time of…
Aacimotaatiiyankwi 