COLUMBUS, Ohio — Growing up on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon, Masami Smith said moving to urban central Ohio wasn’t a part of her plans.

“We didn’t really worry about crime and we didn’t worry about things that you would be scared of in the city,” she said. “The water that we have on our reservation, we can swim and drink the same water because it’s pure and we have the four seasons, so we can harvest at every point.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio unites Native American communities living away from their ancestral homes

  • November marks Native American Heritage Month, which honors the culture, history and contributions of more than 570 tribal nations across the country

  • NAICCO directors said this month, like every month, is about recognizing and celebrating their existence

Now, a resident of nearly three decades, Masami Smith is working as executive director of the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO).

“This is the intertribal agency,” Masami Smith said. “All of us relocated here in Ohio from other places, obviously, and us, are from the Pacific Northwest.”

Partnering with her husband of 32 years and project director Ty Smith.

“We grew up on the same reservation … So you could call it ‘romance on the res,’” he said.

The center was founded in 1975 by Selma Sully-Walker, of Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota ancestry, later taken over by her daughter Carol Welsh and her husband, before falling into the hands of the Smith family in 2011. Masami Smith said her involvement started with seeking out friendships within the Native American community after the pair relocated in 1996. Now, the Smiths are providing a space for cultural preservation and restoration through traditional and community-oriented programming, such as NAICCO Cuisine and Land Back NAICCO.

“It's really about helping our people unplug, get outside, connect with nature and understand that relational peace that's it's it's interwoven in all parts of our ideology, our spirituality, our ceremonies and the things that we do, our language,” Ty Smith said.

Going into Native American Heritage Month, the pair said it’s an opportunity to honor and learn about the community’s history and customs, but recognizing their culture doesn’t start or end in November.

“Every day is a celebration to be a Native American, because we're so far away from home, we don't get the opportunities that we always had,” Masami Smith said.

With Native Americans constituting approximately 1.1% of Ohio’s total population, Ty Smith said, their existence is often overlooked by others.

“So sometimes we are invisible,” he said. “So, again, having a month like that to kind of lift up our presence and help people become aware is a good thing, but at the same time, we're always here and NAICCO is always open.”

Ty Smith said it's important to address stereotypes and recognize diversity within the Native American community.

“There's 574 different federally recognized tribes in this country, and you're talking about a whole different, just a vast amount of different worldviews, cultures, traditions, languages [and] creation stories,” he said. “And so just to be mindful of that. Native people are very diverse, and it's does more harm than good to overgeneralize sometimes.”

The Smiths said they’re hoping to learn from each other’s differences, and are striving to build unity through purchasing land.

“To have land, to have a place to call ours that we can connect with and spend time together and do the best we can to share what knowledge we've been gifted,” Ty Smith said. “... But also to try to find ways to bring other people's cultures and the things that are meaningful to them.”