Miami County Kansas Historical Museum

12/03/2025

The presentation for this coming Saturday is postponed. The new date will be announced when known.

11/30/2025

We extend heartfelt thanks to all the families that came throughout the day on Friday, brought family ornaments, shared our snacks and decorated the entire museum.

11/26/2025

Where Ancestors Dwell...Giving Thanks

Our Ancestors! They are the ones that came before us. Their trials and tribulations are part of our every heartbeat. Our DNA is their DNA. Forget them not...and give thanks! They are our history and the beginning chapters of our story.

The land in the photo was Wea Indian Headright Land in Louisburg, Kansas. Before that, it was part of the Wea camp (reservation) on which the tribe lived as the result of the forced removal from their beloved Indiana sacred land along the Wabash River. My father was born here, played here, and dreamed here. He believed in his ancestors; he respected them. Just knowing they once existed gave him strength of character and the fortitude to never give up. They helped him become who he was. The last word he spoke was the name of one of them...someone he never met but still somehow still knew. I thank our ancestors for giving my father his core of belonging...of strength...of past...of present...and of future!

As for me, I am thankful for the blood which flows through my veins...

Contributor
Jeanne-d'Arc Dagenét
Daughter of Pete Dagenette
Great great granddaughter of Christmas Dagenét, last hereditary Chief of the Wea, and Mary Ann Issacs Dagenét Peoria

11/26/2025

11/25/2025

Mark your calendars for Christmas fun!

You are welcome to bring an ornament with your Miami County family name on it for our tree. It will be appreciated for many years to come.

The Christmas tree in Park square will be lit at 6:oo PM (you will have plenty of time to walk a block for the viewing.)

Remember, all Christmas trees are beautiful when decorated with love and friendship...

11/24/2025

Honoring Our Native American Heritage...

Thank you Kevin Diane Motley Gray for this great review of our event honoring Native Americans.

'Moses "Mo" Brings Plenty said, "We are all descendants of a tribe. It's the memory in your DNA. We are all related. EVERYONE! God loves diversity...EMBRACE IT! You will find diversity in heaven!"

What an amazing program yesterday on Native American Spirituality at the Miami County Historical Museum. A new friend of ours, Sandy Brown Sylva of Spring Hill, and a member of the Wyandote tribe, identified the speakers: The inter tribal panelists featured guest speakers, Daniel Wildcat, Ph.D., a professor at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, and an accomplished scholar who writes on Indigenous knowledge, Judith Manthe, Chief of the Kansas Wyandot Tribe, and a very special guest, Moses "Mo" Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota...you might recognize him from the television series "Yellowstone". ErIc Anderson, Pottawatomi citizen moderated. I really like how Sandy described speakers we could have kept listening to the rest of the day."

11/20/2025

The Promise of the Pawpaw

This sweet, tropical-tasting fruit is native to eastern Kansas and points east. They normally grow on the edge of woodlands and are harvested in autumn.

But, pawpaws are more than just a wild growing fruit. They have cultural relevance to the Native American tribes that once inhabited Miami County, Kansas--the Shawnee, Wea, Piankashaw, Peoria, Kaskaskia and Miami. These are the "emigrant" tribes who were forced out of their northeast woodland homes to make room for white settlers. This removal robbed them of the complete balance they had with their environment, their familiar foods, homes, sacred ground, customs and even tribal members.

But, not everything was unfamiliar. The Shawnee, in particular, recognized a fruit in Miami County that lingered in their memories. This fruit was more than a food source. The pawpaw possessed the promise of perseverance for they honored the fruit as one of their moon phases prior to removal.

“The Shawnee word for the pawpaw moon is ha’siminikiisfwa. It’s the month of September,” Joel Barnes, expert on Shawnee culture, said. “That moon would indicate when the pawpaws were ripe and it was time to go pick them and probably also indicated, ‘Hey, we’re getting close to winter.'”. The tribes lost nearly everything...except, their Pawpaw Moon!"

So, enjoy your pawpaws...and remember their past...and their promise!

Note:
For some tribes, the Harvest Moon and Pawpaw Moon were the same.

11/14/2025

What Does Your Daddy Do?

In the Fall Parade around 1908, Maurine McLachlin and Bernice Boyd dressed as clowns and rode a teeter totter aboard a wagon pulled by a team driven by John Peyton.

Their sign reads: "Our daddy's Sell Boards" (advertising for Paola Lumber & Coal.)

11/13/2025

Thank you to all who have decided to honor Native Americans with your attendance at this event.

Our museum endeavors to provide you with educational and enlightening experiences.

Please visit our museum at 12 E Peoria Street, Paola, Kansas.

Miami County Kansas Historical Museum

https://micomuseum.org/

11/08/2025

Native American Spirituality

Join us for a panel discussion of Native American Spirituality with panelists Mo Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota, Judith Manthe, Principal Chief Wyandot of Kansas, and Daniel Wildcat, Citizen Yuchi Muscogee moderated by Eric Anderson, Citizen Potawatomi!

Eric will lead the discussion among the panelists as they share their tribal beliefs systems with one another and the audience. Concepts of both commonality and distinct individuality among the belief systems will be presented.

Both Eric and Daniel are Haskell Indian Nations University professors and authors. Judith is an active speaker and organizer of the “Trespassers Beware! Fort Conley and Wyandot Women Warriors” exhibit currently displayed at the Wyandotte County Museum through the first week in November, weather permitting. Mo is a well-known actor and a resident of Miami County.

🟡 Reservations are mandatory 🟡
For reservations, please follow the link in the comments.

No Admission Fee
Donations Appreciated
501 (C)(3) IRS designated

11/04/2025

Brother Beaver
Native Historical Beliefs Tied to Miami County .

Note: The Beaver Moon will actually rise at 4:27 PM tonight ( November 4) and continue until tomorrow morning.

The Miami Tribe calls the November full moon the "Myaamia kiilhswaakani" or "waawiita kiilhswa 'lost moon'", which is part of their traditional lunar calendar. This name, and others like "Beaver Moon," are based on seasonal ecological events.

The November full moon signifies the time when beavers are actively building their dams and preparing for winter.

Other names for the November full moon include the "Frosty Moon" and the "Freezing Moon," reflecting the arrival of colder weather.