Miami People



To get started on American Indian Research

Various Spellings: Miami, Miame, Meamie

The Miami Tribe is primarily associated with the state of Oklahoma.

Tribal Headquarters
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma P.O. Box 1326 Miami, OK 74355 Phone: 1.918.542.1445 Fax: 1.918.542.7260


 * The Sovereign Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Tribal Website

Population: 1984: Tribal enrollment 1,900.

Wea and Plankashaw, Bands of the Miami Tribe

Brief Timeline
1703: Miami village at Detroit

1711: Three villages: St. Joseph, Maumeee and Wabash.

1763: Moved to Indiana

1790-1775: Little Turtle's War ended with the Greenville Treaty

1827: Sold land in Indiana and moved to Kansas, some of the tribe stayed in Indiana, where in 1872 land was divided among the remaining members.

1842-1853: Miami Emigration

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Miami tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Ohio History Central article on the Miami Indians

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. There are no current federally-recognized reservations in Illinois.

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Agency Records
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Illinois has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.

In Ohio

Fort Wayne Agency

Indiana Agency

Miami Subagency

In Kansas

Osage River Agency - to 1871

Shawnee Agency 1871

In Indian Territory

Quapaw Agency1871-80

Land Records
Tribally owned: 57.93 acres

Treaties

 * 1795
 * 1803
 * 1805
 * 1809
 * 1809 Supplementary Treaty
 * 1814 with the Wyandot
 * 1815: with the Wyandot
 * 1818
 * 1826
 * 1828
 * 1834
 * 1838
 * 1840
 * 1854
 * 1867 with Seneca, Mixed Seneca, Shawnee, Quapaw, Etc,

Vital Records

 * Quapaw Agency (M595) births and deaths 1924-1932 FHL Film: 581408
 * Shawnee Agency (M595) births and deaths 1910-1934 FHL Film 581870
 * Osage Agency (M595) births and deaths 1924-1931 FHL Film 579734

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
 * The Sovereign Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Tribal Website
 * Miami Tribe Wikipedia