Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO)

2025 Ohio Heritage Fellowship
Location: Franklin County
Category: Community Leadership
Art Form: Native American Culture

Ty and Masami Smith, as directors of the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO), actively support and promote traditional Native American art forms through cultural preservation initiatives. They have dedicated their lives to preserving and practicing their Indigenous artistic, cultural, and culinary traditions. As tribally enrolled members of The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon, the Smiths learned harvesting, hunting, and fishing traditions from their families and Native People. They moved to Columbus, Ohio for new opportunities, and found life in Central Ohio to be very different from life in Indian Country. Through NAICCO, they help community members build connections in Ohio while maintaining ties to their ancestral homelands.

For decades, the Smiths have been deeply engaged in the powwow circuit, where they have sung, danced, and strengthened their ties to their traditions. Their artistic contributions span a wide range of traditional and ceremonial arts. Masami and her daughters are highly skilled artisans, creating intricate beadwork, baby boards, powwow regalia, and ceremonial fiber arts—each piece reflecting cultural identity, spiritual significance, and expert craftsmanship. Ty, meanwhile, is a master craftsman of traditional musical instruments, handcrafting water drums, rattles, and eagle feather bustles for ceremonial use, ensuring that sacred Indigenous sounds and practices remain a living part of their community. At NAICCO, Ty and Masami lead cultural programming that mentors youth on how to be, not only within the local Native community, but in other Native communities as well. They travel to ceremonies and teach young NAICCO members how to properly participate, which also prepares them to engage with ceremonial life in other Native communities. Through their work, the Smiths are playing a vital role in sustaining cultural traditions that can be lost when people put down roots in new places.
Through their initiatives NAICCO Outdoors and Land Back NAICCO, the Smiths are working to reclaim land for Native cultural and community use. These initiatives emphasize land stewardship, conservation, and rewilding, and are deeply rooted in traditional Native practices. Collaborating with conservationists and other outdoors experts on this region, NAICCO’s membership – especially the youth – are learning to be at home in Ohio by engaging the natural world through foraging, fishing, and hunting. Masami said that learning to gather, process, and eat traditional foods has been crucial to making Ohio home and sustaining cultural ties to Indian Country. By securing a dedicated space for Native American individuals and families in Ohio, they aim to create opportunities for cultural expression, including traditional arts, storytelling, and ceremonial practices passed down through generations.

Through their leadership at NAICCO and lifelong dedication to Native arts and traditions, Ty and Masami Smith continue to be steadfast stewards of their cultural heritage. By fostering cultural continuity within their own family and extending their impact to the larger community, they ensure that these traditions remain vibrant, accessible, and deeply rooted for future generations.