Myaamia Heritage Foundation is hosting the first Myaamia Cultural Fest in Fort Wayne

On August 29, the Myaamia Heritage Foundation is hosting the inaugural Myaamia Cultural Fest in downtown Fort Wayne during the Taste of the Arts Festival. From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the culture, history, language, foodways, and arts of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, who called Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana home prior to their forced removal in 1846. The celebration includes Myaamia ‘Miami’ artists, cultural demonstrations, hands-on activities, foodways programming, and games. 

We sat down with Myaamia Heritage Foundation Chair Morgan Lippert to learn more about the festival and its significance. 

Input Fort Wayne: For those who are unaware of your organization, can you tell us what the Myaamia Heritage Foundation is and what you do? 

Morgan Lippert: The Myaamia Heritage Foundation (MHF) is a 501(c)(3) established by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, the federally recognized sovereign nation of the Myaamia ‘Miami’ people who are indigenous to what are today the states of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and 

Wisconsin. Founded in 2024, we are volunteer-run and based out of the Tribe’s government seat in Miami, Oklahoma and extension office in Fort Wayne. 

Our mission is to support the Miami Tribe’s cultural revitalization efforts. Following the Tribe’s forced removal from present-day Indiana in 1846, generations of Myaamia people experienced assimilation and suppression of Myaamia language and cultural practices. Since the 1990s, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has worked to revitalize Myaamia language, cultural knowledge, traditions, and connections to community. 

Through public programs, partnerships with local organizations, and support for Myaamia artists and cultural practitioners, MHF supports this ongoing work by creating spaces where Myaamia culture can be practiced, shared, and experienced both within the community and with the broader public. For example, this past June we partnered with Artlink in Fort Wayne for an invasive bark basket workshop, where both Myaamia and non-Myaamia participants learned about traditional basketmaking and created their own baskets. It was a great example of how we can share Myaamia knowledge with the broader community while also supporting cultural revitalization.

IFW: This is the inaugural Myaamia Cultural Fest. What can we expect?

ML: The Myaamia Cultural Fest will be a celebration of Myaamia culture and community. The Fest will feature more than a dozen Myaamia artists and cultural practitioners, 

along with hands-on activities, demonstrations, and opportunities to learn about Myaamia history, foodways, and traditions. 

Visitors can play traditional Myaamia games like mahkisina meehkintiinki ‘moccasin game,’ explore Myaamia foodways and history, and learn directly from Myaamia artists through demonstrations and hands-on activities. There will also be opportunities to shop for handmade Myaamia artwork and items from the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s gift shop. 

The event is free and open to all ages and will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Barrett McNagny parking lot, located at the corner of Barr and Berry Streets between the YLNI Farmers Market and the Taste of the Arts Festival. 

IFW: The event features cultural demonstrations and hands-on activities. Can you tell us more about those?

ML: We’ll have a variety of demonstrations and hands-on activities that give visitors an opportunity to learn about Myaamia artistic and cultural traditions. Myaamia artists will share practices including beading, fingerweaving, basket making, and traditional wooden lacrosse stick making. 

Visitors can also participate in activities themselves, including making a fingerweaving keychain, creating bookmarks inspired by Myaamia ribbonwork, and trying out a traditional lacrosse stick. Our goal is to give people an opportunity to engage with Myaamia culture by learning directly from Myaamia artists and cultural practitioners. 

IFW: The Myaamia Cultural Fest is one of the ways you support the ongoing revitalization of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Why is this work important? 

ML: This work is important because cultural revitalization is not just about preserving the past; it’s about making sure Myaamia culture continues to be practiced, shared, and carried forward by future generations. This is especially important for a community dispersed across the country. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has more than 7,300 enrolled citizens living across the United States, with nearly 1,000 living in northern Indiana. Creating opportunities for Myaamia people to gather, share knowledge, and build community is an important part of cultural revitalization. 

The Cultural Fest is also an opportunity to introduce the broader public to the Myaamia people and help build a greater understanding of the Tribe’s history and its continued presence in Indiana. Myaamia people are part of the Northeast Indiana community today, and Myaamia culture is not simply something that belongs to Fort Wayne’s past. It is a living culture that continues to grow and contribute to this community.

IFW: Is there anything else we need to know about the Myaamia Cultural Fest? 

ML: The location of the Myaamia Cultural Fest is especially meaningful because it’s less than a mile from Kiihkayonki, a historic Myaamia village located in what is now Fort Wayne’s Lakeside and Spy Run neighborhoods. Holding the event so close to Kiihkayonki connects this celebration of Myaamia culture to the place where Myaamia people lived and maintained community for generations. It’s a meaningful opportunity to share Myaamia culture in a public space within the Tribe’s ancestral homeland and remind people that Myaamia people and culture are not just part of Fort Wayne’s past — they are part of the community’s present and future.

Find more details on the inaugural Myaamia Cultural Fest here. Visit the Myaamia Heritage Foundation’s website here or follow them on Instagram for more information on their work.