Myaamia Language

Myaamia is the language of the Miami people.  It is one of many Algonquian languages that make up the largest Indigenous language family in what is now North America. All Algonquian languages and cultures share some features, concepts, and values. For instance, many Algonquian language communities have games and winter stories that are very similar, though distinct in each community.

The Miami who remained in their homelands in what is now Indiana were able to maintain the language, stories of that place, and other knowledges that connect the Miami to their homelands and all of our relations there. The Miami of Indiana continued speaking Myaamia and practicing traditional Miami lifeways, such as spearfishing for sustenance, into the 20th century. This is why contemporary Myaamia language revitalization and reclamation efforts are based predominantly on sources from Indiana Miami families and archives. 

Myaamia language decline in Indiana closely correlates to racial violence and state land dispossession in the early 20th century.  Contemporary efforts to revitalize the Miami language are rooted in the scholarly work of settler linguist David Costa, his working partner Daryl Baldwin, and a Language Pact signed by both the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana and (what was then) the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma in the 1990s. By the time the pact ended, Baldwin had become a member of the Oklahoma Miami and the fruits of this pact came to be published under the copyright of the Miami Nation of Oklahoma.  Scholars should note that the source of most of the historical images, objects, and language resources cited in Myaamia reclamation projects (books, exhibits, etc.) are based in Indiana and within families that remain in Indiana as members of the Miami Nation of Indiana today.

Today there are exciting Myaamia language reclamation programs that take place in Indiana, Oklahoma, and online. 

The Miami Nation of Indiana offers an annual summer camp for Miami youth and various adult language retreats throughout the year. The focus on these programs is to give every day Miami the knowledge and skills they need to engage in language reclamation efforts. However, the Indiana Miami are severely underfunded, and so these programs are only available to members of the Miami Nation of Indiana and are run entirely on volunteer labor.

The Miami Nation of Oklahoma sponsors the work and staff of the Myaamia Center, which is housed at Miami University of Ohio. The concentration of funding and staff at Miami University fosters a rich network of language learners and major language projects such as the ILDA online Myaamia-Peewaalia dictionary, related phone app, language classes for students, and occasional online courses available to the public.

Learn more about Indiana Myaamia language programs and resources.