Experience Miami Living History Nov. 1 & 2
The History Center will conclude its 2025 Miami Indian Heritage Days season with the much-anticipated Traders Days, held Saturday, November 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, November 2, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the historic Chief Richardville House, 5705 Bluffton Road in Fort Wayne. The event is free and open to the public, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step into living history and experience the heritage and culture of the Miami people in a meaningful, interactive way.
Traders Days serves as the grand finale of the Heritage Days season, transforming the grounds of the Chief Richardville House into a vibrant 19th-century trading post. Visitors can explore a marketplace filled with traditional crafts, handmade goods, and demonstrations of skills that once sustained the Miami and other regional Indigenous communities. Local artisans and historical interpreters will showcase beadwork, weaving, pottery, and traditional cooking, among other trades. Each vendor’s table becomes an open window into the past, where attendees can ask questions, learn techniques, and understand the cultural significance behind each craft.
The Chief Richardville House itself, built in 1827, offers a fitting backdrop for the event. Once the home of Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville, the influential leader of the Miami Tribe, the site stands as one of the oldest Native American structures in the Midwest. It symbolizes both cultural endurance and adaptation during a time of immense change. Experiencing Traders Days on this site creates a tangible connection between history and the present, reminding visitors that Indigenous culture is not a relic of the past but a living tradition that continues to evolve.
Throughout the Miami Indian Heritage Days series, held monthly from May through November, the History Center has featured a variety of hands-on demonstrations highlighting traditional arts such as cattail matting, porcupine quillwork, and foodways. Each program has deepened public understanding of Miami culture while celebrating the resilience of Native communities. Traders Days brings all these elements together, offering the most immersive and celebratory experience of the year.
In addition to Traders Days, the History Center will host the next installment of the George R. Mather Sunday Lecture Series at its downtown location, 302 East Berry Street, on Sunday, November 2, at 2 p.m. Melissa Rinehart will present “Runaway Hunts: Uncovering the Hidden History of Indiana’s Two Indian Boarding Schools,” exploring how these institutions shaped—and often damaged—Native lives, languages, and traditions in the late 1800s. The lecture, like Traders Days, is free to the public and supported by the Floyd and Betty Lou Lancia Family Foundation.
Events like Traders Days offer more than just a day of entertainment. They preserve cultural memory and promote understanding between communities. Visitors come away with a renewed appreciation for the artistry, knowledge, and perseverance of the Miami people. In a time when modern life moves quickly, taking a moment to walk through living history allows us to recognize the deep roots of the region we call home. Traders Days is an invitation to not only witness but to participate in a legacy of exchange, craftsmanship, and cultural continuity that remains vital to northeast Indiana today.
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