Native American ancestors inhabited the land of Indiana from around 9,500 BC. European contact with Indiana s Miami, Wea, Mascouten, and Shawnee tribes began in 1679. However, Indians were forced onto western reservations in the 1830s. By 1850 only a portion of the Miami remained in Indiana. Many natives either assimilated into white culture or hid their identity. This scenario changed when Native Americans served in the military and at home during World War II. Afterward, Indians from many lineages flocked to Indiana. Along with Indiana s Miami and Potawatomi, they are creating a diverse Indian culture, expressed through pan-Indian as well as tribal activities, that enriches the lives of all Hoosiers. Elizabeth Glenn is professor emerita of the Ball State University Anthropology Department. An adjunct professor of history at the University of Delaware, Stewart Rafert authored The Miami Indians of Indiana (1996). Glenn and Rafert coauthored the chapter Native Americans in Peopling Indiana: The Ethnic Experience