The seamless Indian community: Reservation to city and back again

Posted: February 17, 2005
by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today

The reservation/urban Indian split, based on mutual antagonism, once seemed destined to become a fact of life for tribal America. Dysfunction rather than the seeking of common goals and identities seemed to divide urban Indian leaders from those on the reservations. As always, resources clearly designated for Indian programs were limited, while the easy approach was to fight over the diminishing pie.

Good news! A more comprehensive and socially responsible approach is at hand. It was in evidence in Phoenix last week, as tribal governments and leaders took the initiative in seeking solutions to the social problems and aspirations of urban Indian families and communities.

As reported in Indian Country Today, ''American Indians and Alaska Natives are organizing assistance to fellow urban Indians, who now constitute more than half of all Indians in the United States'' (''Urban Indian summit mirrors population shift,'' by Brenda Norrell, Vol. 24, Iss. 36).

The story covered the National Urban Indian Family Coalition Summit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, a gathering that ''challenged Indian leaders and community members to develop new strategies to deal with the challenges of Indian child welfare, employment and housing while developing financial literacy and maintaining culture and identity.''

We celebrate this historic occasion, organized by an energetic network of social service providers and its excellent supportive cadre of executive directors, key policymakers and decision makers who have taken up the mandate ''To begin developing a national agenda for urban Indians,'' as stated by the coalition's coordinator, Janeen Comenote, from Seattle.

Urban centers and organizations from 14 cities represented well over 750,000 Indians nationwide at the gathering. The presentations recounted the era of the ''relocation and termination'' policies to disband the tribes during the 1950s and how these exploded the Indian migration to urban areas. Jobs and education opportunities and out-marriage continue to attract Natives to urban areas and away from tribal lands; ''nevertheless,'' Comenote stressed to ICT, ''most Indian families have members both in the cities and on the reservations.'' ''About 60 percent of self-identified American Indians and Alaska Natives reside off-reservation, and almost 50 percent [620,000] of the total non-reservation Native population lives in urban areas,'' according to the National Urban Indian Family Coalition.

Several generations of Indian families are now part and parcel of their cities of residence. Interestingly, often many of these same families continue to point to their tribe and reservation of family origin as the place ''they are from.'' These linkages are obvious in the reservation-bound migration any time jobs become more available. American Indian individuals or urban programs are secondary to tribal political entities in federal policy. Federal assistance programs are slow to seek out the Native urban populations.

The coalition has documented the pressing needs of urban American Indian populations, which too often fall on the edges of society. It is developing strategies based on the opportunities inherent in tribes and their urban diasporas to interact and assist one another. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Anchorage and Tulsa have the largest American Indian and Alaska Native populations, according to U.S. Census 2000.

Among the coordinator's goals is to support how family networks overlap both realities: to establish how they are always the same people, whether on the reservation or in the city, facing the same challenges and problems and seeking mutual solutions. A second major goal: to build the network of urban American Indian organizations that can give better voice to this growing network to strengthen Indian families.

The needs are great. Citing the Harvard Project on American Indian Development, the conference states, ''The poverty rate of urban AI/AN is 3.9 times that of urban whites; the unemployment rate of urban AI/AN is 2.4 times that of urban whites; urban AI/AN are 3 times more likely to be homeless than urban whites.'' It intends to be the ''sister urban organization to the National Congress of American Indians'' by forming an alliance of ''organizations and leaders which would act in harmony with NCAI to reinforce Indian cultural identity within the urban setting and, ideally, create policy which would serve to inform and expand opportunities and resources available to Indian families regardless of where they are located.''

This is strong language expressing a clear purpose. We encourage it greatly. It always makes sense for Indian people and communities to recognize each other as relatives. All indications point to a sizable number of urban Indians living dispersed throughout cities, often living on the edges of society - in cheap housing, mobile units, cars and even under bridges. The population is often undercounted and out of reach, even to their own tribes.

One shining example of intelligent nation-building is the Menominee approach, which saw a spirited and consistent effort by ''Menominee members of the Chicago community to [reconnect] to families and relatives on the reservation. The Chicago Menominee members have built and changed relationships with the Tribal Council to change tribal legislation to include members living in Chicago as an extension of the Menominee reservation. The American Indian Center of Chicago hosts an annual meeting of the Menominee Tribal Council in Chicago.''

In Phoenix itself, with 47 percent of all Navajo Nation tribal members now residing in off-reservation border towns, the Phoenix Din? Inc. is another example of collaboration between an urban center and a tribe. The coalition recognized this urban project: ''The Phoenix Dine collaborates closely with the Navajo Nation to address the needs of Dine people living in the Phoenix Valley.''

In family defense programs empowered by the Indian Child Welfare Act, the ''Tribal Liaison Program'' in Minneapolis, Minn. assists out-of-state tribes on behalf of their members or eligible tribal members and the courts in developing a realistic case plan for Indian families involved with the Child Protection system in Hennepin County. Since 2000, the Denver Indian Family Resource Center in Denver, Colo. has served as a liaison to tribal programs, advocated for culturally responsive practice in ICWA cases, and been ''effective'' in serving Indian families from 48 different tribes.

Uniquely positioned in New York City, the American Indian Community House is a beacon of hope to many of the nearly 60,000 American Indians living in that urban area. The many programs and extensions of the AICH are substantial, ranging from HIV and legal services to international assistance for indigenous peoples' delegates attending the annual United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Several generations of Indian families are now part and parcel of their cities of residence. Interestingly, however, they remain connected by relations and cultural identification to their tribal homelands. These linkages are obvious in the reservation-bound migration unleashed any time jobs and services become more available in the home territories. It may also suggest that tribes not limit themselves to ''on-territory'' economic developments. Tribal enterprises built in urban Indian areas would also contribute greatly to improving the financial and social conditions of all our people - again, more than half of whom reside ''off-reservation.''

On the other hand, in federal policy, American Indian individuals or urban programs are secondary to tribal political entities. Federal assistance programs are slow to seek out Native urban populations. This is an important issue, as is the issue of fluidity of identity and unity by Native peoples, whether residents of tribal territories or urban or suburban communities.

Congratulations to the organizers of this important event. You are providing a much-needed service and forum for Indian country.

Link to Report

Feb 2005 News Reports

Last updated on February 24, 2005