In the five months since Chief Tom Gamble took over the reins of the Oklahoma-based Miami tribe, the relationship between Miami University and the tribe has remained positive and productive.
Chief Floyd Leonard passed away in March after serving more than a quarter century as chief of the Miami tribe.
Leonard's son Joseph Leonard, assistant professor of management at Miami, explained that Gamble has had quite a bit of experience in tribal government and does not expect drastic changes.
"It's going to stay the same and hopefully get better," Leonard said. "(The relationship between the tribe and the university is) a well-established relationship and everyone around the tribe knows about the university. Usually they have a relative who's been here as a student. There's some connection there."
Bobbe Burke, coordinator of Miami University tribe relations, echoed Leonard's evaluation of the relationship between the university and tribe.
"I don't expect any changes to the relationship," Burke said. "I expect it to move forward in the same positive manner it's been moving in the past.
Sometimes it's hard to educate the Miami community, but we are not their primary goal. We are just one of many things on (the tribe's) radar and I don't expect anything to change."
According to Leonard, the partnership between the university and the tribe began in the early 1970s when Miami Chief Forest Olds first visited the campus and President Phillip Shriver showed an interest in strengthening the bond between the two organizations.
The connection between the school and tribe further strengthened with the creation of the Heritage Scholarship in 1991, which supports Miami tribe members who chose to enroll at the university.
Leonard explained that the scholarship attracted approximately a half dozen Miami tribe members to Oxford by the mid 1990s, a number that has continued to swell over the following years. The 2008-2009 school year has 20 Miami tribe members currently enrolled in the university.
"The state of Ohio over the past several years has been trying to beef up education about topics of diversity, including Native American tribes, history, culture and more importantly, contemporary Native American activities," Leonard said. "It's just natural for Miami University and the Miami tribe to be partnering together to try to accomplish those goals."
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The goals of educating the Miami community are assisted even further by the Myaamia program, founded in 2001. The program focuses on researching the Miami language and culture and attempts to expose Miami students to the unique culture from which their university takes its name.
"This is a generalization, but I would say that most American citizens don't have a good understanding of what happened to American Indians and the consequences for modern communities," Burke said. "The more students that know about this, the more we hope they will want to know."
According to Burke, the Miami Art Museum will host an exhibition celebrating Miami tribe culture and heritage. Chief Gamble will visit campus for the first time as chief Sept. 18 to observe the opening ceremonies of the exhibit.
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