The Miami Indians of Kansas

The Miami Indians

Originally found in Indiana, southwest Michigan and Ohio, the early Miami people were agriculturally based and well as being hunters. They were first encountered by French missionaries in the mid 17th century, when they were living around the shores of Lake Michigan.

By the 18th century, they were mostly living in present-day Indiana and Ohio. However, with the

eventual victory of the British in the French and Indian War , more white settlers moved upon their lands which led to some of the Miami bands merging. These larger tribal confederacies allied to participate in the European wars and to fight advancing white settlement. By the end of the century, the tribal divisions were the Miami, the Piankeshaw, and the Wea. The Piankeshaw and the Wea were closely aligned with some of the Illini tribes and were later "merged" with them for administrative purposes.

Miami Chief Little Turtle

The first treaty with the United States to which the Miami were a party was concluded at Greenville, Ohio on August 3, 1795. It was a treaty of peace, and also a definite settlement, for the time, of the boundary between the United States and various Northern and Central contracting tribes. It was consummated by Anthony Wayne, Major General, commanding the army of the United States, and sole Commissioner at Greenville, the army's headquarters. The Miami was represented by their

principal chief, Little Turtle, who when asked tell the limits of his country, he answered: "My forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence he extended his line to the head-waters of the Scioto; from thence to its mouth; from thence to the mouth of the Wabash, and from thence to Chicago, on Lake Michigan. These are the boundaries within which the prints of my ancestors' houses are everywhere to be seen."

The Treaty of Mississinwas, signed in 1826, took away most of the Miami lands and gave them to the United States government. It also allowed Miami lands to be held as private property. On November 28, 1840, and the following described tract in the Indian Territory given them for a future home in present-day Kansas: "A tract bounded on the east by the State of Missouri; on the north by the country of the Wea and Piankeshaw; on the west by the Potawatomie of Indiana; and on the south by the land assigned to the New York Indians." This tract was estimated to contain five hundred thousand acres. When the Miami were officially removed in 1846, those with private property were allowed to stay in Indiana, while the rest of the tribe was moved to the Kansas reservation.

By virtue of this treaty, the Miami located in the southeastern part of the present day Miami County, Kansas. About eleven hundred settled on Sugar Creek during 1846-47, of whom nearly half returned to Indiana the following year. Sickness so decimated the ranks of those who remained that only about 300 were left when the band removed to the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River. Their principal village was on the east bank of the river, a little settlement growing up in the neighborhood, composed of mission buildings, one of the Indian Agencies, and a few log houses occupied by pioneer white settlers.

Dr. David Lykens, the first white settler in the Miami County, established a Baptist Mission among the Wea (a band of Miami) on Wea Creek, about the year 1840. It was a successful and well-conducted school, and was in operation many years. The Catholics established a branch of the Osage Mission among the Miami in 1850, the missionaries visiting the tribe once a month. Fathers Truyens and Van Micorio were the first priests. They were afterward visited by Fathers Schact and Favre, of Lawrence, until Father Waltron was located at Paola.

On June 5, 1854, the Miami Indians ceded to the United States all the land acquired by the treaty of 1840, except 70,000 acres for their future homes, and also a section of 640 acres for school purposes.

The reservation was to be surveyed by the government and individual selections of 200 acres each were to be made, which included the residence and improvements of each person then living on the reservation. The rest of the land was to be sold whenever the chiefs and majority of the tribe desired it; the proceeds to be paid to the tribe after deducting expense of the sale.

Another treaty on February 23, 1867 provided that all members of the tribe wishing to become citizens of Kansas could do so and those who elected to continue tribal relations would remove to the Indian Territory. There, they would become confederated with the Peoria tribe, and the united tribe take the name of Peoria and Miami. In 1871, the remnant of the tribe, numbering 130, removed to the Neosho River in Indian Territory.

Today, the U.S. government has recognized the Western Miami as the official tribal government. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has more than 3,500 enrolled members. The Eastern Miami (or Indiana Miami); however, lacks federal recognition but has its own tribal government.

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

202 S. Eight Tribes Trail

P.O. Box 1326

Miami, Oklahoma 74355

918-542-1445

Miami Nation of Indiana

80 W. 6th Street

P.O. Box 41

Peru, Indiana 46970

765-473-9631 or 800-253-3578

Compiled by Kathy Weiser/Legends of Kansas, updated March, 2010.

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Vintage Photographs of the Old West - From our personal Photo Print Shop, you can now order prints that provide dramatic glimpses into the rich heritage of the American West. From notorious outlaws, to Indian Chiefs, buffalo roaming the range, and pioneers on the trail, this varied collection grows daily.