Urban American Indians: Reclaiming Native Space (Native America: Yesterday and Today)

About this book

An outstanding resource for contemporary American Indians as well as students and scholars interested in community and ethnicity this book dispels the myth that all American Indians live on reservations and are plagued with problems and serves to illustrate a unique dynamic model of community formation. City-dwelling American Indians are part of both the ongoing ethnic history of American cities in the 20th and 21st centuries and the ancient history of American Indians. Today more than three-quarters of American Indians live in cities having migrated to urban areas in the 1950s because of influences such as the Termination and Relocation policy of the federal government which was designed to end the legal status of tribes and because of the draw of employment housing and educational opportunities. This book documents how North America was home to many ancient urban Indian civilizations and progresses to describing contemporary urban American Indian communities lifestyles and organizations. The book concentrates on contemporary urban American Indian communities and the modern-day experiences of the individuals who live within them. The authors outline urban Indian identity relationships and communities drawing connections between ancient urban Indian civilizations hundreds of years ago to the activism of contemporary urban Indians. As a result readers will gain an in-depth understanding of both ancient and contemporary urban Indian communities; comprehend the differences similarities and overlap between reservation and urban American Indian communities; and gain insight into the key role of urban environments in creating ethnic community identities.