Representatives from Miami University's Myaamia Center are in France to commemorate the 300th anniversary of an unprecedented diplomatic mission with the opening of a new exhibit featuring historical Native American artifacts and ceremonial robes.
Myaamia Center Assistant Director George Ironstrack helped curate the exhibit opening Nov. 25 at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris. It includes four painted bison hides presented to the French as diplomatic gifts in the 18th century.
Ironstrack explains the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma has been working with the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma on reclaiming stories and revitalizing hide painting within the Myaamia community.
Pre-contact (prior to Europeans coming to the Americas) Peewaaliaki (Peoria) and Myaamiaki (Miami) artists practiced the art of decorating deer hides. Creating minohsayaki "painted hide robes" — pronounced mih-NOH-seye-YAW-kay — was popular from the late 1600s through the early 1700s.
"This exhibit is a chance to really highlight the power of collaborative work, engaged work between tribal nations," including members of the Quapaw, Osage, Choctaw and Otoe-Missouria nations, Ironstrack tells WVXU.
It's also an opportunity to showcase the value of interpreting their shared histories with French colonial history, he adds.
"Interpreting that history together creates a much more powerful story, and it gives the descendants of the people who were involved in negotiations, friendships and relationships with the French Empire — my people, and others — a chance to reconnect with ancestral objects that are held in collections."
On Nov. 25, 1725, four Native American chiefs and one woman met with the French king, Louis XV, in France. The visit was meant to strengthen trading operations and alliances between the Indigenous nations and France after the founding by the French of the Louisiana colony.
The Palace of Versailles says the exhibit also includes a recently rediscovered portrait of a Miami ancestor that will help tell the story of French and Indigenous allies in the 18th century. The portrait of a Piankashaw man is being displayed for the first time in France. The Piankashaw were a sub group of the Miami who went on to merge politically with the Peoria Tribe in the 19th century.
Ironstrack's involvement stems from his work alongside the Peoria Nation on the “Reclaiming Stories: (Re)connecting Indigenous Painted Hides to Communities through Collaborative Conversations” project. A portion of that work was exhibited in 2024 at the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum at Miami University.
The overall goal of the Reclaiming Stories project is researching and restoring early Miami and Peoria culture. It's supported by Humanities Without Walls and the Mellon Foundation, and is led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Ironstrack says the nations have a long, shared history, and describe themselves as "sibling nations."
"I'm really looking forward to celebrating with all my tribal relatives," he says.
The trip is extra special because he's sharing the experience with his daughter and his mother.
"I've spent a lot of time away from home, traveling to do this work, and to be able to share in person the outcomes of this work with them, to me, will feel like bringing the first step of the knowledge home."
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