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A Day of Reflection

Commemorating the 175th anniversary of the Miami Tribe's removal from their homelands

By Miami University

October 20^th, 2021

More than 400 Miami Tribe citizens and campus community members gathered on Miami University’s Oxford campus on Oct. 11 for a Day of Reflection commemorating the 175th anniversary of the Miami Tribe’s removal from their homelands.

The solemn program began in the Art Museum Sculpture Park, where Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Chief Douglas Lankford spoke about the effects of the removal, and the hurt and loss it caused.

“This ground beneath our feet is home, a place where countless generations of our ancestors left footprints as they lived their lives until a fateful period in the history of this country,” Chief Lankford said. “And though Myaamia people had lived in this vast homeland region since time immemorial, the stroke of (President Andrew Jackson’s) pen permanently altered our destiny.”

(In the photo above, Myaamia Students Zach McCoy and Emma Fanning carry the Miami Nation flag during the Walk of Reflection).

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Chief Douglas Lankford, speaks during the ceremony. President Gregory Crawford sits in the background.

Daryl Baldwin (lower right), executive director of the Myaamia Center, and others listen to Chief Lankford during the solemn ceremony.

Scenes from the ceremony

The ceremony opened with a song of welcome by Miami Tribe citizens including (left to right): Jarrid Baldwin, Haley Shea, Kara Strass, Kristina Fox and George Ironstrack.

Karen Baldwin, holding a white shawl with red fringe, listens during the ceremony.

Participants sit and stand near the sculpture — Participants sit and stand near the sculpture "A Tribe Named Miami, A Surveyor's Stake, A Town Named Oxford" by Miami Tribe citizen and artist Eugene Brown (2008).

Renate Crawford, University Ambassador, listens to the speakers.

More than 400 people attended the solemn ceremony at the Miami University Art Museum Sculpture Park. This view shows the crowd at the park listening to Miami Tribe Chief Lankford Chief Lankford speak.

The Walk of Reflection

The event continued with a quiet walk through Miami’s Arts Quad to Bonham House, home to the Myaamia Center, the research arm for the Tribe. Myaamia students, including Grace Lankford and Josh McCoy, led the procession (pictured below) carrying the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma flag down the center aisle.

A Day of Reflection

A close up view of the legs of four people in fringed shawls and ribbonwork skirts as they walk on the path.

A long line of participants walk through campus during the walk of reflection.

Commemorating the 330 women, men and youth who were removed

Pieces of colored fabric were tied to trees along the walking route to commemorate each of the 330 Tribe members who were removed. Solid black strips represented the men, red calico for the women, solid blue for the young men, and blue calico for the young women.

A group of participants walk near a tree with pieces of colored fabric tied to the branches.

Myaamia students ( left to right) Shelby Carter, Grace Peconge and Emma Fanning tie fabric strips to the branches of a tree .

Haley Shea, Myaamia Center research associate and visiting assistant professor of Educational Psychology, ties a strip of blue fabric to a tree branch.

Rays of sunlight shine on three strips of red calico hanging from a tree branch in commemoration of three individual Miami Tribe women forced from their homeland.

Footnotes

Photos by Scott Kissell and Jeff Sabo. Captions by Susan Meikle. Video by Dispatch Video.

FootNotes

Photos by Scott Kissell and Jeff Sabo. Captions by Susan Meikle. Video by Dispatch Video.

© 2026 Miami University

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