Myaamionki Myaamia Homelands’ Map

This map shows the Myaamionki, the homelands of the Myaamia people, which includes their heritage landscape in what is today the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Most villages were concentrated on the Waapaahšiki Siipiiwi (Wabash River) between Kiihkayonki (Ft. Wayne) and Aciipihkahkionki (Vincennes). Myaamia forebearers regularly traveled, hunted, and gathered throughout this extensive, shared landscape. Prior to contact with Europeans, the people of each village had their own leadership and no village could command the allegiance of another. So, what connected these villages to form a group distinctive from other tribes in the area? Physically, the rivers and trails that crisscrossed the Myaamionki were the pathways by which communities were connected to each other. Culturally, it was the shared language, called ‘Miami-Illinois’ by linguists today, a common place, and a similar historical experience that connected this close-knit Myaamia family.

Joshua Sutterfield and Brett Governanti

2008

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Myaamia Center at Miami University

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma