About Us

The Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana is a Native American tribe located in Indiana which was part of our original homelands. We were once one tribe with the present day Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, but became two separate tribes when the United States Government removed the Miami from Indiana, but by treaty, allowed some clans of the tribe to remain in Indiana, thus creating two Miami Tribes. The Tribe members who were removed from Indiana would at first be removed to Kansas only to be removed again to their present location in Oklahoma. The Indiana Miami signed an 1854 treaty with the US government making us the only tribe to be recognized by the government in the State of Indiana post removal. However, only forty-five years later the federal recognition that the Indiana Miami possessed was illegally taken by the government.

Several attempts have been made to regain our federal recognition. We petitioned the government in 1934 during the Indian Reorganization Act but that petition was denied in 1936. In 1937 we were forced to incorporate in order to survive as a group. For the next several decades we would rebuild from the trauma of the tribe being split by the 1830s removal, losing all our tribal owed land, and the loss of federal recognition. Then in 1989, we would begin attempts again to regain our federal recognition. That year would provided an opportunity to regain recognition through a technical corrections bill. Despite the hard work and effort we put forth towards that bill, support for the adequate number of votes was lost prior to the Congressional vote. By 2002 we had exhausted all judicial and legal avenues. Despite the fact that our governing body of the tribe (tribal council), has remained in operation, strong, and intact and our culture continues to be visible to this day, the government cited “tribal abandonment” as their reason to continue denying our rightful recognition.

Federal recognition efforts are still ongoing today. Tribal officials are working on state, national, and international levels to regain the respect and status that the Miami of Indiana deserve. Although we have always maintained our own government and membership, sovereignty (federal recognition), would allow us to be considered an independent nation with the ability to adjudicate legal cases, levy taxes within our borders, and possess greater control over our economic development.

Our headquarters (tribal complex), is the former Peru high School in downtown Peru, Indiana just a short distance from the mouth of the St. Joseph River where our tribe’s origin story is set. The tribal complex is the center for our operations, the tribal government, a food pantry open to all of Miami county Indiana, the Crane’s Nest, and has space available for member and community gatherings.The Miami of Indiana tribe continues to preserve our culture, language, heritage, and community.

Our tribe is flourishing with a tribal enrollment of 6000 individuals with concentrations of members in Miami, Huntington, Allen, Wabash, Marion, and Parke counties in Indiana. The governing body consists of a tribal council comprised of an elected chief, vice-chief, and representatives from each of the five families that remained in Indiana after the removal era.