myaamia tribe
TRANSCRIPT
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ETHNOMATHEMATICS (ICEM-4)
Daryl Baldwin & Nirmala Naresh
Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Platform for
Sharing the legacy of the Miami tribe
Very early stages of collaboration between math educators and the Miami tribe.
Solicit suggestions for development of efforts related to research on ethnomathematics.
For the benefit of the community
!! Algonquain tribe from the lower great lakes.
!! Homelands in Indiana, Wisconsin, Western
Ohio, Southern Michigan, Eastern Illinois
!! Confederate of bands united by language, social
gatherings, inter marriage and trade.
!! Their political structure included village chiefs
and war chiefs.
!! Forced by the settlers
!!Exchange for land, money
!!Bitterly fought war ensued
!!Division among the community:
!!Western Miami (federally recognized) & the
!! Eastern Miami (still waiting to gain recognition.
The Eagle feather
represents the Nation;
the Red Tail Hawk
feather represents the
University.! The red
string that ties the two
feathers together is
symbolic of the trust
and respect that is the
foundation of this
unique partnership.
!!Carry out in-depth research to assist tribal
educational initiatives aimed at the
preservation of language and culture.
!!Expose undergraduate and graduate
students at Miami University to tribal
efforts in language and cultural
revitalization.
!!Talk about time in terms of our connection
with the physical world.
!!Represents a sort of real-time that includes
both a past and present.
!!Sun marks day time; Moon marks month
time.
!!Both sun and moon are called kiilhswa in
Myaamia
!!How far has the sun come? taaninhswi
eehpyaaci
!!How far in time is it? taanaaha eehpi!i
aawiki
!!Refer to the movement of sun in daytime
!!English phrase: What time is it?
!!Eco-Lunar calendar system.
!!There are twelve regular moons (months)
in the Myaamia lunar calendar systems.
!!Each moon cycle has a name associated
with it that reflects some biological cycle in
the environment.
!!Observation of lunar cycles in relation to
events in our environment for which the
months are named after.
!!The lunar month is approximately 29.5
days. The calendar shows the 29.5 day
cycle by alternating a 29 day month
followed by a 30 day month.
!!The Myaamia New Year varies from year
to year.
!! The lunar calendar system is not perfect and differs from the solar year by about 11 days every year.
!! Over the course of 3 years the lunar names would become out of sync with the biological processes for which they were named.
!! To fix this problem, every few years the Myaamia would insert a thirteenth moon in order to realign the moons with the biological cycles our ancestors were witnessing.
!!Many of the names reflect breeding and
nesting cycles of animals that were native to
our region
!!Natural environment plays an important
role in tracking month time.
!!Seasonal cycles were important in tracking
time as well. Years were tracked by the
dormant months of winter, which also
became the means of determining ones
age:
"!pipoonwi winter
"!pipoonwe year
"!peepoonwiaani :I am of a certain age, am
wintered
!!Unscheduled deliberations remove the
anxieties associated with ‘being on time’
and this has given rise to the modern
English phrase ‘Indian time’.
!!This time keeping system has ecological
ties forcing us to be aware of the sky and
mindful of our connections to the
landscape and all of its beings.
!! Focus on developing curricular materials
!!Collaborations with colleagues from other branches
!!Collaborations with local school districts
!!Any such efforts – For the benefit of the Miami community
Suggestions Welcome