The Miami Tribe's partnership with Miami University helps revive 'silent stories'

The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma's annual Winter Gathering, held the last weekend in January, is an opportunity to share aalhsoohkaana or "winter stories."

"A winter storytelling event for Myaamia people is a time we gather together to tell stories that are really special and important to us that can only be recounted in the winter time," explains George Ironstrack, assistant director of the Myaamia Center at Miami University. "Those stories tell us about how the world came to be as it is, or as we understand it as Myaamia people, and help us understand our ever-evolving place within that world."

Some 100 Miami University staff and students traveled to Oklahoma this past weekend to attend the Winter Gathering and cap off a yearlong commemoration of the university working collaboratively with the Miami Tribe. The two Miamis formed a partnership in 1972 that has grown and evolved, resulting in, among other things, a cultural revitalization.