¾أ¾أث®أغجز Tribe of Oklahoma chief and ¾أ¾أث®أغجز president come together to celebrate new learning space
The MacMillan Hall classroom was a gift from ¾أ¾أث®أغجز to the Tribe in 2022 to commemorate their unique 50-year relationship
¾أ¾أث®أغجز Tribe of Oklahoma chief and ¾أ¾أث®أغجز president come together to celebrate new learning space
They call it miloniteeheekaani, which means “the Myaamia classroom.”
¾أ¾أث®أغجز President Gregory Crawford and ¾أ¾أث®أغجز Tribe of Oklahoma Chief Douglas Lankford on Friday celebrated the latest step in the relationship between the two entities: a new learning space at the heart of the Oxford campus.
The university gifted the classroom space to the ¾أ¾أث®أغجز Tribe in 2022 as part of the 50th anniversary commemorating the unique relationship between the sovereign tribal nation and the public university.
“The Love and Honor this university shows to our people is just unbelievable,” Chief Lankford said before joining other Tribe leaders; President Crawford; Dr. Renate Crawford, ¾أ¾أث®أغجز’s university ambassador; and Kara Strass, director of ¾أ¾أث®أغجز Tribe Relations, in cutting the ribbon outside the second-floor classroom in MacMillan Hall.
'We are one'
President Crawford called the classroom at the top of the stairs, also known as the Great Room, “another piece of this history we share with the Tribe. We are one; we are together.”
A culturally significant turtle made from maple, walnut, and cherry that was created by tribal artist Jody Gamble graces the wall outside the classroom.
The transformed classroom space includes several Myaamia words or phrases and their English translations on the walls. They include kiiloona myaamiaki, which means “We are ¾أ¾أث®أغجز," myaamionki, which means “Myaamia homelands,” and tapaalintioni nahiteehioni, which means “Love and Honor.”
Mood lighting in the raised ceiling can feature multiple colors, including shades of red to resemble light illuminating from a burning fire. Fire, as captured in the Myaamia Heritage Logo, is symbolic of the warmth of the partnership and recognition of the shared responsibility needed to “tend the fire” to continue nurturing the relationship.
Over time, the relationship has grown stronger, with steps that have included ¾أ¾أث®أغجز’s Land Acknowledgement saying ¾أ¾أث®أغجز is located within the traditional homelands of the Myaamia and Shawnee people. The ¾أ¾أث®أغجز people were forcibly removed from their homelands in 1846.
Neepwaantiinki, 'learning from each other'
The relationship led to the creation of the Myaamia Center at ¾أ¾أث®أغجز in 2001. The Tribe’s research arm is dedicated to the revitalization of ¾أ¾أث®أغجز language and culture and to restoring that knowledge to the Myaamia people.
President Crawford told those who gathered for the classroom ribbon cutting, “People ask me all the time, why does it work so well at ¾أ¾أث®أغجز? I think it really boils down to one word: neepwaantiinki. That word means ‘learning from each other,’ and I think that’s what makes this relationship so special.”
Chief Lankford said, “As a nation, we can’t say enough about this university and the people who are here. Our language would not be where it is. Our culture would not be where it is. None of these things — they might exist — but nothing like what we have today without the help and support of this university.”
Inside the Myaamia classroom, President Crawford joined Chief Lankford and dozens of others in watching the first installment of a docuseries about the Tribe and its relationship with ¾أ¾أث®أغجز. More installments, created by ¾أ¾أث®أغجز Online, are planned.