Daryl Baldwin

Daryl Baldwin is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. He was born and raised around the Great Lakes area residing most of his life in Northwest Ohio. He currently lives in Liberty, Indiana with his wife and four children.

Daryl’s forefathers were very active in the affairs of the Miami Nation dating back to the 18th century, and he continues this dedication through his work in language and cultural revitalization. Daryl graduated in 1999 from The University of Montana with a Masters in Arts with emphasis in Native
American linguistics.

Over the last 15 years he has worked with the Myaamia people developing culture and language based educational materials and programs. Daryl is currently the Director of the Myaamia Project at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The Myaamia Project is a joint venture between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University. Its mission is to preserve, promote, and research Miami Nation history, culture, and language.

Daryl's full list of publications can be read here.

George Ironstrack

George Ironstrack has participated in Myaamia language renewal projects as both a student and a teacher for the past fourteen years.

In July 2008, George joined the Myaamia Project as Assistant Director and Education Coordinator. Originally from Chicago, George, Tamise, their son Kai Matthias, and daughter Mirin Royce all currently make their home in Oxford, OH.

George is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and has assisted in the organization and administration of the Tribe’s Eewansaapita Summer Educational Experience since its inception in 2005. George received an M.A. in Origins and History of the United States from the Department of History at Miami University. His graduate work centered on the Miami Indian village of Pickawillany, which was located in western Ohio near the city of Piqua.

His research into Pickawillany sparked a series of investigations into the continuities and transformations in Myaamia leadership over time. As both a tribal educator and a former public school teacher, George is also interested in the study of indigenous pedagogical practices and specifically Myaamia Neepwaantiinki (Miami Education).

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Andrew J. Strack

Andrew joined the Myaamia Project as Media Specialist in September 2007 after graduating from Miami University with a bachelors' degree in Mass Communication. Andrew is a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma from Kendallville, IN. He currently lives in Oxford, Ohio.

Andrew was one of the first students to participate in the classes about Miami Tribe history, culture and contemporary issues that are available to Miami Tribe students at Miami University. In his time as an undergraduate, Andrew made several short videos for the Myaamia Project while participating in independent study projects.

He currently is working on several projects to increase awareness of the Myaamia Project among Miami Tribal members, using videos, photography, and publishing. Recent projects include a booklet/DVD , government education videos, and maintaining the Project's online presence.

Dr. David J. Costa

Dr. David J. Costa is a contract consultant to the Myaamia Project and also serves on the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s language committee. He completed his B.A. in linguistics at UCLA in 1985, and his Ph.D. in linguistics at U.C. Berkeley in 1994 with his dissertation the Miami-Illinois Language. A revised version of his dissertation was published through the University of Nebraska Press in 2003. He has been studying the Miami-Illinois language since 1988, and has worked extensively with the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Miami Nation of Indiana on language revitalization since 1995.

Dr. Costa just completed Myaamia neehi peewaalia aacimoona neehi aalhsoohkaana. Myaamia and Peoria Narratives and Winter Stories, a collection of traditional Miami, Wea, and Peoria narratives, published through the Myaamia Project. He is also working on a fully annotated collection of interlinearized Miami-Illinois texts, hopefully to be finished in the next few years. Additionally, he is continuing to add to his ongoing etymological dictionary database of Miami-Illinois.

In addition to his work on Miami-Illinois, Dr. Costa has also done extensive research on the Shawnee language, the Algonquian languages of southern New England, and comparative Algonquian. Dr. Costa is a third-generation northern Californian and lives in El Cerrito, California, with his wife and daughter.

Dr. Costa's full list of publications can be read here.