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Miami University, Myaamia Tribe announce new collaboration

Angelo Gelfuso - The Miami Student
Angelo Gelfuso - The Miami Student

Miami University and the Miami Tribe have announced a new collaborative awareness platform, beginning this month.

The agreement, which centers around a jointly designed logo, was officially signed on Oct. 21 by University President Greg Crawford and Miami Tribe Chief Douglas Lankford. Both were present for a ceremonial coin toss before Miami's football game against Buffalo to celebrate.

The goal of the collaboration is to shine light on the rich history of the tribe and the university's relationship with it, which remains widely unknown to the general public.

The relationship between the university and tribe started in the 1970s and has grown into what President Crawford called "arguably the strongest relationship in the nation, between a university and an associated Native American Tribe."

There have been numerous collaborations between them, including the Myaamia Center (formerly the Myaamia Project). Launched in 2001, the Myaamia Project sought to conduct research that helped preserve tribal language and culture and expose them to students at the university.

This latest partnership created is the Myaamia Heritage Logo.

Co-created by Myaamia Cultural Resources Officer Julie Olds and Miami University Web Design Specialist Alyse Capaccio, the logo represents aspects of the tribe-university relationship, including respect, history, responsibility, shared vision and cooperation.

The logo will appear on print and web-based materials, as well as merchandise. All royalties from the sale of this merchandise will fund scholarships and student support for Myaamia students at Miami University.

Merchandise featuring the new logo should be available for purchase by the start of 2018.

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