In Ohio, Native American Communities Are Telling a Contemporary Story

In the heart of Ohio, the enduring echoes of Native American culture remain deeply ingrained.

Central Ohio was once home to numerous indigenous tribes — including the Wyandot, Haudenosaunee, Shawnee, Myaamia and Delaware — that thrived across its expansive terrain. The present, however, tells a different story. 

Beginning in the 18th century, Central Ohio tribes were relocated through various treaties, culminating in the Treaty with the Wyandots in 1842, which officially displaced all Native Americans from the region. As a result, they not only lost their physical homes but also their community, where they could practice and exchange their cultural traditions. 

Data from the United States Census reveals that as of July 2023, the Native American population in Ohio was a mere 0.3%, representing approximately 35,358 individuals out of a total population of 11,785,935. 

In light of this demographic decline, Ohio lacks local access to essential services like the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service and Bureau of Indian Education. There are no tribes officially recognized by the federal or state government in Ohio.

Nonetheless, various charities and organizations — such as the Urban Native Collective, the Myaamia Center and the Lake Erie Native American Council — are actively engaging in efforts to draw attention to Native Americans and their historical narratives. 

Ty Smith, project director of the Columbus-based intertribal organization Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio, is working to fill a gap in telling the contemporary story of these communities in Ohio.

“We’re not some throwback of the past, or these relics that have just completely totally disappeared,” Smith said. “There’s a very modern current Native population here in Ohio, and it’s very intertribal. And we’re a new emergence of native people in this state.”

NAICCO’s core mission is “to preserve and restore balance in the lives of Native Americans through traditional, cultural, educational, family, community and wellness driven values and initiatives.”

Founded in 1975 by Selma Sully-Walker — who was renowned for her efforts in creating economic opportunities for Native Americans residing in Columbus — NAICCO transitioned into the hands of Ty and Masami Smith in 2011.

Describing the organization as a “mom-and-pop operation,” Smith emphasized the continuous and varied nature of their work. 

“[The work is] nonstop,” he said. “We have a lot of hats to wear.”

NAICCO pursues its mission through reclamation, accomplished through two primary initiatives: Land Back NAICCO and NAICCO Cuisine. 

Land Back NAICCO represents the physical act of reclamation, consisting of two phases. The first aims to secure a minimum of 20 acres of land in the Central Ohio area through donations. As of October 2024, the organization has raised a total of $375,996 in donations for the program. The subsequent phase is dedicated to land conservation, which involves constructing and preserving a community where Native Americans in Central Ohio can truly feel at home.

“I can’t speak for all the other tribes and peoples that are implementing a campaign like Land Back NAICCO but for us, it’s about creating a space,” Smith said.

NAICCO upholds the enduring tradition of Native Americans by maintaining a connection with nature. They hold their lands in sacred esteem, striving to preserve them in their purest, most natural form, shielding them from industrialization and deforestation. They prioritize utilizing the land in its original state, recognizing its contribution to providing medicine, food, clean air and water. 

“A big part of it is nature and engaging the outdoors,” Smith said. “This is where our culture, this is where our customs, this is where our traditions, our practices, our ways, our language, the references that we have amongst our people — they’re very much intertwined with what that interaction looks like with nature.”

During relocation, Native Americans not only lost land but also the opportunity to practice and share their customs with the rest of the world, as well as to be recognized as a distinct cultural group within the state. 

An embodiment of this mission is NAICCO Cuisine, a food truck operating from spring to fall. The menu features items like fry bread, NDN (Native Indian) tacos, NDN taco bowls and buffalo burgers. 

By serving authentic Native American cuisine, this initiative has garnered significant attention and awareness about Native Americans in the region. In addition to the broader local community, NAICCO Cuisine has attracted the interest of various media outlets, including The Columbus Dispatch, News 5 Cleveland and Spectrum News 1. 

“The bigger win here, too, is that we’re not only creating opportunity for buy-in, but we’re instilling a real sense of ownership amongst our native community,” Smith said. “Because they know that the earnings that come out of that all goes back into the operations side of our programming … [and] the rest of the community.”

A large part of NAICCO encompasses not only the programming and initiatives they pursue but also personal events — celebrations, birthdays and holiday dinners — that strengthen the Native American community across the nation. These events play a crucial role in uniting fragmented tribes, offering them a welcoming sense of belonging and a home that embraces them with open arms. 

“[Once,] these people came up from New Mexico,” Smith said. “They came in for dinner, and we had another lady and her son come down from Delaware. And lo and behold, they were blood relatives, and nobody knew it all this time. … You see things like that happen. Those connections are made.”