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Preparing the next generation of Miami Tribe of Oklahoma leaders

Myaamia Heritage Award Program at Miami University plays key role

By Miami University

November 19^th, 2025

Heritage Program alumni step into Miami Tribe of Oklahoma leadership positions

Several alumni of the Myaamia Heritage Award Program at Miami University are now in leadership positions with the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

These positions exemplify how the program contributes to the next generation of leaders within the Tribe. Created in 1991, the program provides a tuition waiver and a four-year undergraduate college experience for Miami Tribe students.

Nate Poyfair ’19 was elected this summer as the Miami Tribe's second councilperson on the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Business Committee. This means he holds one of five elected positions in the Tribe’s leadership structure and is the first Heritage Award Program alumnus to be elected.

Lance Theobald ’10 and Mika Leonard ’06 serve as the chief executive officer and vice president of operations, respectively, of Miami Nation Enterprises, the Tribe’s economic arm. Joshua Sutterfield ’05 MA ’09 is cultural education director.

"It was always our hope that one of the outcomes of our revitalization movement was that a new generation of tribal citizens would emerge connected and knowledgeable about their heritage,” said Daryl Baldwin, executive director of the Myaamia Center, the research arm for the Tribe that has led groundbreaking work in language and cultural revitalization.

Baldwin said they hoped “this connection to heritage and strengthening of our kinship ties would motivate some to fully invest their skills and talents so that the Miami Nation would grow and prosper. I am honored to have participated in our reemergence and to witness what our ancestors always wanted — to survive as Myaamiaki ‘Miami People.’"

Kara Strass, Van Zant director of Miami Tribe Relations at the Myaamia Center, said the Heritage Program is one part of the larger revitalization effort.

“In the early years, the community knew that revitalization was having a positive impact on our Tribe, but it has taken us a long time to fully understand the full scope of that impact,” she said.

Strass said the Heritage Program, including the Heritage Course and other cultural programming by the Miami Tribe, has helped create this new generation of Myaamia leaders and intellectuals.

“This process is helping to heal our community and put it back together again after centuries of loss,” Strass said. “These leaders are dedicated to making change in our community, and it is exciting to think not only about what they will accomplish, but what they will help build for the future.”

Nate Poyfair '19

Poyfair, who earned a bachelor’s degree in History, was elected to a three-year term as second councilperson during the General Council meeting in June.

The Tribe’s Business Committee does such things as approving new hires, conduct budget reviews, hold political meetings, “and anything else in between,” he said, adding that the elected position is in addition to his full-time position in the Tribe’s Mildred Walker Cultural Resources Office, where he is ARPA Noošonke Project manager/special project researcher.

“To say that I am honored is a bit of an understatement. Shock and happiness, along with relief, were the first feelings after becoming elected,” Poyfair said. “Now that I have been in office for a little over four months, I am at the stage of continuously reminding myself of my duty to my community.”

Poyfair said, “To me, being a leader within our Nation is a responsibility to serve all members and to be conscientious of the potential impacts of each decision that I and the rest of the Business Committee make. I see this opportunity to lead our community as something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

He called the Heritage Program “the best training course for this position that I could have ever asked for. Learning about language and culture, for one, but also creating the social networks that aided in my hiring and eventual election, were only possible through my attendance at Miami and the Heritage Program.”

He said the program connected him to friends and relatives that he would not have met otherwise.

“My life trajectory before attending Miami University would not have resulted in myself having the happiness and success that I have today, and that is something that I will never forget nor take for granted.”

Poyfair said he is a strong advocate for the Heritage Program, and “I believe that what the university and Tribe are accomplishing together in our community and cultural revitalization efforts is something that we can all be extremely proud to have a part in. Love and Honor!”

Nate Poyfair speaks at the 2025 annual meeting of the General Council in Miami, Oklahoma (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Nate Poyfair stands with other Myaamia Heritage students before their 2019 graduation from Miami University (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma)..

Nate Poyfair with other members of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Business Committee, including Donya Williams, Chief Douglas Lankford, Tera Hatley, and Dustin Olds (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Lance Theobald ’10

Theobald, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, is the board director and CEO of Miami Nation Enterprises (MNE). He joined the board of directors in 2016 and became CEO on Jan. 1, 2024.

MNE — created in 2005 to provide economic independence to the Tribe — comprises more than a dozen operating companies employing 1,200-plus professionals across the United States.

“Serving as CEO of MNE is a unique and special privilege,” Theobald said. “MNE’s success translates directly into more opportunities for the Miami Tribe and its members; this is not a responsibility I carry lightly, and I’m honored to have been entrusted with this mission."

Theobald said that serving as CEO was not always a goal, but “supporting the Tribe was a priority given the impact of the Heritage Award on my life.” He called the education he received at Miami, enabled by the Heritage Program, foundational to his career.

“Twenty years ago, I attended Miami University solely due to the existence of the Myaamia Heritage Program. In an alternative universe where the program was not available, I wouldn’t have met my wife (with whom I share five children), my close friend and co-founder of the technology company I scaled and sold, and it’s likely I’d have very little connection to the Miami Tribe.”

Theobald added, “I’ve been fortunate in my life and career, and much of that good fortune goes back to the foundation laid during my years at Miami University. My sincere hope is my contributions to the Miami Tribe through my leadership of MNE will open similar doors for future generations of tribal members.”

Lance Theobald receives an "18 of the Last 9 Award" from Miami University President Gregory Crawford (Miami University photo).

Lance Theobald sands his lacrosse stick during a youth camp in Oklahoma (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Lance Theobald runs with his sister, Riley, and young friend Josh McCoy while playing a game of lacrosse in Oklahoma. All three would go on to complete the Heritage Program at Miami (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Lance Theobald with Bobbe Burke, Miami Tribe Relations coordinator emeritus, and George Ironstrack, Myaamia Center assistant director (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Mika Leonard ’06

Leonard, who graduated with a degree in Linguistics, has been vice president of operations for Miami Nation Enterprises since February 2024. She previously served on the MNE board of directors and held a position with one of MNE's federal contracting entities from 2015-2017.

“Serving in a leadership role with MNE has been extremely rewarding,” she said, explaining that because MNE has such a direct impact on the Tribe. “The work is meaningful in a whole new way.”

Leonard said, “I felt a strong sense to serve which took me to Washington, D.C., and my job at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Here I was exposed to much more of Indian Country and this directly took me on much of my career path, which led me back to the Tribe. It has been an honor."

She said the Heritage Program “and my overall time at Miami University undoubtedly helped prepare me for this job as well as other jobs before. I attribute much of my self-confidence and self-assuredness, that helped me make leaps in my career, from many wonderful faculty and staff at Miami.”

Leonard is excited to see where MNE and the Miami Tribe go from here.

“I've had very close ties with the Miami Tribe and Tribal members since I was a young child, as my grandfather was Chief for many years,” she said. “The fact that this is now my career feels full circle.”

Mika Leonard holds the Honoring Nations award beside Chief Douglas Lankford, Tera Hatley, and Donya Williams. The Tribe received the prestigious national award recognizing its cultural heritage and language revitalization (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma photo).

Mika Leonard greets Miami University President David Hodge during his inauguration while she was a student at Miami (photo by Miami University).

Mika Leonard stands with family members, including her parents Joseph and Etsuko Leonard, daughter, spouse, and brother Wes, also a Miami graduate (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Mika Leonard stands with her daughter, Olive, and Donya Williams, secretary/treasurer of the Tribe's Business Committee (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Joshua Sutterfield ’05 MA ’09

Sutterfield, who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Comparative Religion and a master’s in Geography, has been cultural education director for eight years. He oversees cultural education projects and programs; creates, directs, and hosts community cultural education events such as SummerFest and the first lacrosse game of the year; and also plans and oversees summer programs.

“Becoming a leader in the cultural department has been a long, rewarding journey, from a student beginning in 2001 to becoming a teacher and now administrator and creator of programs,” Sutterfield said. “Not to sound too cliché, but it truly gives meaning to my life. I get to share my experience with others and provide community members with tools that allow them to realize, express, and perform their identity as a Myaamia person.”

Being able to work side-by-side with others who have been through the Heritage Program has created a sense of community between them, he said.

“When I first began at Miami, I had no idea I would find my career and life work within the Tribe; in fact, quite the opposite. I knew I wanted to look into anthropology but imagined myself as an Indiana Jones character studying ancient hieroglyphs and swinging from trees,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a Native American anthropologist (being native and an anthropologist) and certainly had no idea that I could become a Myaamia anthropologist.”

Sutterfield said his time at Miami University provided him with the knowledge and opportunity to share his knowledge with his family and change their identity.

“We always knew we were Myaamia but didn’t know what that meant. Mom had been involved with the Tulsa Indian club and Powwow, but we never did anything specifically ‘Myaamia’ and kind of thought all Indians were the same,” he said.

“Being able to share my experience with my family and the Tribe as a whole has become one of the most rewarding aspects of my life.”

Joshua Sutterfield holds a ball of twine during a community web activity in Miami, Oklahoma (photo courtesy Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Joshua Sutterfield drills a hole in a maple for a maple sugaring exercise in 2007 (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Joshua Sutterfield leads a community web activity (photo courtesy Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Joshua Sutterfield gets ready to participate in the mahkisina 'moccasin game' (photo courtesy of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

Footnotes

Story by Margo Rutledge Kissell of University Communications and Marketing (UCM) at Miami University; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma photos by Karen Baldwin and Andrew Strack; top photo by Scott Kissell, UCM

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