The Honoring Our Ancestors Project 

   The Honoring Our Ancestors Project is a program being created by the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana for the purpose of stabilizing, revitalizing, and renovating cemeteries that contain the remains of our Miami ancestors. Specifically, the Godfroy, Clayton, Slocum, and Meshingomesia/Miami Indian cemeteries, all of which are in the vicinity of the city of Peru, Indiana.

  We as a people hold our ancestors in high regard and honor them on many occasions including an annual ceremony called a “Ghost Supper”. In this ceremony we conduct a long house ceremony followed by communal dinner where we set a place for each person in the Tribe who began their journey to the spiritual world that year. Because of the high place of honor we hold our ancestors, we need to ensure their memorials in our cemeteries are well maintained and continue on for generations to come. These cemeteries are also of great historical and genealogical value as they contain the memorials of not only Indiana’s first people, but also the memorials of many ancestors of current local and regional residents of the area.

   The Godfroy, Clayton, and Francis Slocum cemeteries are registered 501(c)3 not for profits but are managed, operated, and financially sustained by the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana. The Meshingomesia cemetery (called the Indian cemetery locally), is owned and operated by the Tribe. Over the years the finances of the tribe have had many strains upon them due to the loss of bingo patrons from the conversion of Grissom Air Force base to an air reserve base in the area near Kokomo Indiana, the slow economy in Peru Indiana where the Tribe is located, and the increasing costs of operating the Tribe over time. One of those large expenses has been the maintaining and operating of our Tribal Complex which is an 83 year old brick building that is a historical landmark for both the Tribe and the City of Peru and is on the National Historic Registry.

  A secondary goal is to establish the Godfroy, Clayton, and Francis Slocum cemeteries as financially self-sufficient entities that can continue to maintain and manage the needs and costs of each cemetery separate from the Tribe’s fiscal budget.

   This program will seek to obtain financial support from a combination of grants, donations from current Tribal members who have ancestors from their lineage buried in the cemeteries, Tribal members in general, and the public.  These funds will be used to revitalize, refurbish, repair, and designate the cemeteries previously listed. This includes but is not exclusive to the following:

·       Cleaning and repairing existing headstones that can be revitalized.

·       Purchase, engrave, and set new headstones to replace broken or faded beyond repair headstones.

·       If lacking one, place historical or other marker making location of the cemeteries easier to find.

·       Repair and replace other features like fencing around the cemeteries.

The Meshingomesia Cemetery

Of the 4 cemeteries, the Meshingomesia (also know within the region as the Indian Cemetery) has the greatest and most urgent needs. The cemetery is about 148 years old so many headstones are weathered beyond reading. Incidents of vandalism however have done greater damage as the vandals didn’t just topple and break up headstones, but during an incident in 1934, they came to “rob graves” and even stole some of the bones of one of our ancestors!