Miama U helps Miami tribe preserve its history

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CINCINNATI (AP) — A southwestern Ohio university isworking to preserve 19th century land grant
documents recently recoveredby the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma that mark the tribe’s transition
fromcollectively-held land to individual ownership as it tried — and mostlyfailed — to avoid government
relocation.Miami University’spreservation work on the eight land grants — one signed in 1823 byPresident
James Monroe and seven signed in 1843 by President John Tyler —stems from a long collaborative relationship
between the tribe anduniversity. That relationship led to the creation several years ago ofthe university’s
Myaamia Center, which helps the tribe with researchneeds.Tribe member George Ironstrack, the center’s
assistantdirector, says the grants found in storage at a Catholic diocese inIndiana are historically
important because they show tribe memberstrying to secure a land base for their families. He says the grants
werepromised in treaties that increasingly required the tribe to give uplarge amounts of land sought by the
government and others."Tribemembers thought the grants might help them avoid relocation, but theyended
up fracturing the tribal economy," said Ironstrack, a descendantof Jean Baptiste Richardville, the
chief who received the 1823 grant.Individualparcels of land were much more vulnerable to being sold or
seized bylocal governments for nonpayment of taxes, while tribal land was nottaxed, Ironstrack said. Many
families could not hold onto the landbecause of legal hurdles — some legitimate and some not —
andideological differences with local governments.David Chang, aprofessor of history and American Indian
studies at the University ofMinnesota, says the Miami tribe and others had few options due totreaties and
increasing pressure from those who wanted their land."They were in a tight spot and cornered, with each
treaty forcing them to give up even more land," Chang said.Theoriginal grants are written on vellum or
parchment, said ElizabethBrice, Miami’s assistant dean for special collections. The 1823 grant isthe most
elaborate, with gilt edging and a ribbon and gold paper sealattached, but the ink is faded, and all of the
documents are deeplycreased.The name Miami was derived from the original Myaamia nameof the tribe that
inhabited land now within the borders of Ohio,Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. The tribe was
forced torelocate in 1846 to what later became Kansas and Oklahoma.Theloss of tribal land holdings
eventually also eroded much of the Miamiculture and language that the tribe is working hard to
revitalize.Julie Olds, cultural resources officer for the Miami, Okla.-based tribe, said the grants will
help."Thesedocuments can connect our young people to our history," Olds said."They are
tangible pieces of history signed by American presidents — notjust something mentioned in books."The
tribe received the landgrants this year from the Historic Forks of the Wabash, an educationalorganization on
former Miami land in Huntington, Ind. The Roman CatholicDiocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend contacted that
group last year afterfinding the documents in its archives. They apparently had been storedfor more than a
century at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Huntingtonbefore a priest a few years ago sent them to the diocese
forsafekeeping, said Susan Taylor, president-elect of Historic Forks.TheMiami tribe’s 4,000 or so members
are now scattered around the country,but the tribe is determined to retain and strengthen its culture
andlanguage."And these documents can help us understand what our ancestors had to deal with as we move
forward," Olds said.___Online: http://bit.ly/IUPBRsCopyright 2013 The Associated Press. All
rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.

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