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Miami is a household name in the world of college sports.
The Hurricanes are undoubtedly a collegiate juggernaut, winning national titles in football, baseball, women’s golf, and women’s swimming, among other sports.
They’re not the only team with the famous moniker. While not a powerhouse by traditional metrics, Miami (Ohio) has made its mark in college sports, producing NBA standouts Ron Harper and Wally Szczerbiak, as well as dozens of NFL draft picks.
We know where Miami (Florida)’s name comes from, but what inspired Miami (Ohio)’s title? Here’s what you need to know.
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Why is Miami called Miami of Ohio?
Some might think Miami (Ohio)'s name is an ode to the Vice City, a site of joyous noise, debauchery and everything in between located in Florida's southern coast.
That's not quite the case, however. The name actually references the Miami Valley, the region that surrounds the Great Miami River in southwestern Ohio. The valley is named after the Myaamia (Miami) people, a Native American nation indigenous to Myaamionki, a sprawling enclave that stretched from Ohio to Michigan.
The Myaamia were born by the river, its forebears reaching out of the river for tree limbs during the tribe's inception.
“We became the Miami people through this transition of lifting ourselves out of the river," said Scott Shoemaker, a member of the Miami Tribe (according to Conserving Indiana).
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Beginning in 1795, the Myaamia people were forcibly displaced from their homelands. The Native American nation ceded large swaths of its land to the United States government, which encroached upon the previously sovereign territories like vultures.
It was a story all too familiar in U.S. history. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. Signed by Andrew Jackson, the edict set the stage for state sanctioned ethnic cleansing and genocide of Native Americans.
"The Trail of Tears" followed, a forced death march that saw the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations removed from their ancestral homelands under the glare of U.S. Army rifles and bayonets.
Other tribes endured similar treatment. In 1840, the Myaamia people signed the Treaty of the Forks of the Wabash. Facing relentless pressure from the U.S. government, the Myaamia relinquished 500,000 acres of their land in exchange for an equal-sized reservation west of the Mississippi.
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They resisted their removal for six years, fending off settler attacks in the hopes of maintaining control of their homelands.
“Here the Great Spirit has fixed our homes. Here are our cornfields and our cabins. From this soil and these forests we derive our subsistence and here we will live and die. I repeat, we will not sell an inch of our land," Myaamia tribe member Jean Baptiste Richardville wrote in 1832 (via Howard County Historical Society).
Most of the Myaamia were forced from the Miami Valley by 1846. They were initially sent to lands that eventually became Kansas. Shortly after arriving, they were forcibly removed again -- Kansas was being absorbed into the Union and wanted to open up additional land for settlers. The Myaamia traveled 150 miles south, landing in Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma.
The Myaamia forged a connection with the university that bears its name in 1972 following an unexpected visit from their tribal chief. In the years following the visit, Miami (Ohio) launched a scholarship for Myaamia pupils.
In 1996, the Myaamia launched a resolution towards Miami (Ohio)'s Board of Trustees, calling for the school to change its mascot. The school granted the request in 1997, changing its sports teams' titles from Redskins to RedHawks.
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When was Miami (OH) founded?
Miami (Ohio) was founded in 1809. It is the second-oldest university in Ohio, only preceded by nearby Ohio University, which was founded in 1804.
When was Miami University founded?
With its 1809 founding date, Miami University is one of the oldest public universities in the United States.
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Where is Miami (Ohio) located?
Miami (Ohio) is located in Oxford, Ohio. The city sits some 30 miles from Cincinnati and 35 miles from Dayton. The town was founded in 1810, one year after the university's inception. That wasn't a coincidence; the state of Ohio decided to construct the township to support its nascent college.
English (US)