Our Mission

Our mission is to support our Tribe members and all local families with need-based assistance; promote cultural education and tribal history via outreach to the schools in our local area, region, and state; continually work to preserve our culture and language; and continue to fight to regain our rightful Federal recognition which was illegally taken in 1897.  

The Miami of Indiana are proud people with diverse backgrounds and socio-economic status, living in various communities throughout the State of Indiana. Fundraising isn’t commonplace for our citizens, however, we are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of our people without seeking outside help. Miami County in Indiana is mainly agrarian with no major industries located within it, and the Grissom Air Force was downsized from an active to a reserve base; our main income from bingo has declined dramatically! We need your help to meet the challenges facing some of our members and the local community we serve, to preserve the historical buildings and cemeteries we own and operate, and to continue to share our culture, history, and language with current and future Miami of Indiana as well as the general public. 

Our food pantry is one of the many ways the Miami Nation helps its own, as well as the local community.  We serve numerous families throughout the Peru, Wabash, Kokomo, Logansport, and Fort Wayne areas in Indiana.

We continually strive to teach the Tribe members and the general public who the Miami of Indiana were, are, and what it means to be Miami in today’s society. We raise awareness and teach others our history and culture through a multi-faceted approach utilizing stories, artifacts, and locations. We hope to help others who are not Miami of Indiana gain an awareness, knowledge, and a deeper appreciation of our history, culture, and how we have contributed to our collective history and culture here in the United States.

Oral tradition has played an important role in our history, and we feel it’s important to make sure that our heritage, language, and cultural knowledge are passed on to future generations so that the identity of the Miami of Indiana can live on. We lose many elders each year, who take their oral traditions and stories with them. We continually work in an attempt to stem this tide by expanding the scope and reach of our programs, continual study, and preservation of our history, culture, and language. Our goal is to instill passion in our current and future generations of the Miami of Indiana to make sure the history of those who walked these lands before us isn’t lost to the ages.

These and other tribal operations and programs are based out of our tribal complex, which is the former Peru Indiana High School building built in 1938. We have successfully added the tribal complex to the National Registry of Historic Places, so we continually strive to preserve and revitalize the complex. Since it is an 84-year-old brick building, it needs constant upkeep to maintain it as a viable space for our base of operations. One of our financial goals is to build up a general building fund for current and future operating, masonry, equipment, and other repairs and expenses inside and outside of the building. 

We are currently creating and moving toward implementing a multi-year plan to generate more and various streams of sustainable income and expand and create new programs like with the museum we plan to open in the summer of 2022. However, our ongoing operations, programs, cultural preservation, and Tribe itself are threatened by the decline in bingo income and continually rising costs of operations. 

Please give generously today! Any gift, no matter the amount, will have a great impact by helping us sustain our current programs and making our future plans come to fruition. We are a registered 501(c)3 charity, and any contribution you make will be tax-deductible!

We wish that your donation will benefit the lives of the Miami of Indiana, and the communities we all live and work in, and continue our legacy. With your donation, the number of families you will allow us to help grow exponentially. But we can only meet our goals with the help of community members like you. Become a partner in our mission by donating today! 

Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to read this and for your consideration and contribution. We believe all gifts come from the heart and we cherish them as such.

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like further information or clarification on any of our programs, please feel free to call our office or send an email.

Sincerely,

Chief Brian J. Buchanan

I wish you well and bless your walk!