Post by Dine'Luvlee on Jul 24, 2005 13:16:39 GMT -5
Urbanization's effects on tribalism
Posted: July 18, 2005
by: Patti Jo King
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Contrary to popular belief, American Indians have lived in cities for hundreds of years. Archaeology confirms that Native people of the area now called the United States often lived in concentrated populations, cities and urban centers long before the arrival of Europeans.
Remnants of these populated areas have been found in dwelling sites in Alabama, Illinois and New Mexico. Evidence collected in Alabama reveals that the Moundville site once maintained a population of 1,000 at its center and 10,000 in its surrounding valley. Research also confirms that the community of Cahokia in Illinois was home to more than 20,000 community members. In New Mexico, Pueblo Bonita once contained hundreds of rooms, three-story buildings and several ceremonial kivas, and supported a population of some 1,200 people.
In addition to their own urban communities, Indians often lived within the colonial cities built by European settlers. During the 17th century some took advantage of trading opportunities and urban amenities, and enrolled their children in mission schools.
Nineteenth-century U.S. expansionists, however, devised federal policies that restricted Native populations to isolated reservations in order to distance them from a rapidly growing white citizenry. As a result, by century's end, the Indian populace became increasingly concentrated in rural areas.
However, starting in 1880, legislators began to urge Indians to discard historic lifeways and assimilate into mainstream society. The 1887 Dawes (or General Allotment) Act, used as a tool to break up tribal land holdings, was ultimately responsible for the removal of two-thirds of all Indian land holdings for white settlement - some 91 million acres.
For much of the 20th century - especially since 1945 - the number of American Indians living in urban areas has been increasing. In 1930, fewer than 10 percent of all Indians made their homes in cities. In 2000, 66 percent of Indians identified in the U.S. Census now reside off-reservation.
Urban Indians are a geographically dispersed population characterized by cultural, linguistic, political and religious differences. Typically they have settled in less affluent, transitional, blue-collar neighborhoods near employment and conveniences where their usually large families are accepted and absorbed into surrounding neighborhoods.
Some children lost many of their cultural skills through the assimilating processes of boarding school, and felt out of place when they returned home. As a result, a number returned to urban areas as they grew older. These students learned cultural adaptation through the introduction of unfamiliar concepts, industries and domestic skills. They also forged new, previously unheard-of ''Pan-Indian'' bonds through fellowship with students of other tribes.
In the 1940s, economic development on reservations came to a standstill bolstered by a national push to terminate federal tribal responsibility. Military enlistment and defense industry employment offered new chances for achievement, surpassing the limited opportunities in most reservation communities. During this period, many Indians left the reserve and as a result, thousands were working away from their homelands by the mid-1950s.
The BIA-sponsored relocation program was one of the most important influences on 20th century Indian urban migration. During the scope of the program, which lasted from 1950 through 1970, approximately 100,000 Indians were relocated from reservations into selected urban areas. The program began in Arizona after BIA Commissioner Dillon Myer urged Congress to pass the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation (Long Range) Act, authorizing $88.57 million for health, education, construction and resource development in the Navajo and Hopi nations.
In 1952, President Truman initiated ''Operation Relocation'' extending the program to other tribes and encouraging their move into designated urban centers.
Upon arriving at assigned destinations, BIA relocation officers offered counseling, help in locating housing, job training and employment placement assistance. Fifty-four percent of the relocatees arrived from South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. The other 46 percent came from Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. They turned up in buses, on trains and in dilapidated vehicles in cities such as Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The personal stories of relocatees and their children who were subsequently raised in cities show that the migrants employed many innovative strategies to contend with the daunting challenges of urban life.
The formation of Indian social centers was essential in the successful transition from reservation to city. These civic organizations provided a comfortable framework for introduction to the uncertain urban environment. They helped minimize the stress of change and offered support in the struggle to adapt to attitudes, values, and behaviors commonly associated with city living. Offering additional support to individuals by allowing them to confront problems, fears and new situations as a group, Indian centers became an integral part of the community.
In cities during the 1950s and 1960s, expanded opportunities for education played a critical role in the creation of a stronger Indian political voice. Viewing the dissatisfaction of many Americans in those decades, urban Indians came to realize the value and validity of tradition as well as the wisdom of their elders.
Re-establishing connections to culture and homeland - vital connections that had been dulled through years of forced acculturation - sparked a resurgence of cultural pride and a return to time-honored values. Rather than simply occupying a space within the melting pot of mainstream urban society, they created their own unique position - as dual citizens of two nations - fully able to function in the modern world through a belief and reliance on traditional, tribal values. Where Indians had once been reticent to speak forcefully about injustices, urban Indians became increasingly verbal - creating national public awareness for tribal issues, rejecting total assimilation and creating a new and powerful voice in America.
It is ironic that the 20th century drive toward urbanization that aimed at eradicating tribalism and sovereignty and forcing assimilation, actually served to help Indians strengthen tribal sovereignty and redefine modern tribalism. Tribalism has generally been described as ''morals, beliefs, and identity with a tribe or socio-political organization, families, clans or related groups that share a common ancestry.''
Modern tribalism however, has been expanded to include members of groups other than familial relatives that share commonalities. In the urban setting, this includes the association of ''Pan-Indians'' - citizens of many different tribal nations - who also congregate as members of the urban Indian community as a whole.
By carrying modern urban political methodologies back to the reservation to bolster historic practices and values, city Indians have enhanced social awareness and visibility both on and off the reservation. This has helped improve the collective socio-political and legal standing of American Indians and tribes across the nation.
Posted: July 18, 2005
by: Patti Jo King
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Contrary to popular belief, American Indians have lived in cities for hundreds of years. Archaeology confirms that Native people of the area now called the United States often lived in concentrated populations, cities and urban centers long before the arrival of Europeans.
Remnants of these populated areas have been found in dwelling sites in Alabama, Illinois and New Mexico. Evidence collected in Alabama reveals that the Moundville site once maintained a population of 1,000 at its center and 10,000 in its surrounding valley. Research also confirms that the community of Cahokia in Illinois was home to more than 20,000 community members. In New Mexico, Pueblo Bonita once contained hundreds of rooms, three-story buildings and several ceremonial kivas, and supported a population of some 1,200 people.
In addition to their own urban communities, Indians often lived within the colonial cities built by European settlers. During the 17th century some took advantage of trading opportunities and urban amenities, and enrolled their children in mission schools.
Nineteenth-century U.S. expansionists, however, devised federal policies that restricted Native populations to isolated reservations in order to distance them from a rapidly growing white citizenry. As a result, by century's end, the Indian populace became increasingly concentrated in rural areas.
However, starting in 1880, legislators began to urge Indians to discard historic lifeways and assimilate into mainstream society. The 1887 Dawes (or General Allotment) Act, used as a tool to break up tribal land holdings, was ultimately responsible for the removal of two-thirds of all Indian land holdings for white settlement - some 91 million acres.
For much of the 20th century - especially since 1945 - the number of American Indians living in urban areas has been increasing. In 1930, fewer than 10 percent of all Indians made their homes in cities. In 2000, 66 percent of Indians identified in the U.S. Census now reside off-reservation.
Urban Indians are a geographically dispersed population characterized by cultural, linguistic, political and religious differences. Typically they have settled in less affluent, transitional, blue-collar neighborhoods near employment and conveniences where their usually large families are accepted and absorbed into surrounding neighborhoods.
Some children lost many of their cultural skills through the assimilating processes of boarding school, and felt out of place when they returned home. As a result, a number returned to urban areas as they grew older. These students learned cultural adaptation through the introduction of unfamiliar concepts, industries and domestic skills. They also forged new, previously unheard-of ''Pan-Indian'' bonds through fellowship with students of other tribes.
In the 1940s, economic development on reservations came to a standstill bolstered by a national push to terminate federal tribal responsibility. Military enlistment and defense industry employment offered new chances for achievement, surpassing the limited opportunities in most reservation communities. During this period, many Indians left the reserve and as a result, thousands were working away from their homelands by the mid-1950s.
The BIA-sponsored relocation program was one of the most important influences on 20th century Indian urban migration. During the scope of the program, which lasted from 1950 through 1970, approximately 100,000 Indians were relocated from reservations into selected urban areas. The program began in Arizona after BIA Commissioner Dillon Myer urged Congress to pass the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation (Long Range) Act, authorizing $88.57 million for health, education, construction and resource development in the Navajo and Hopi nations.
In 1952, President Truman initiated ''Operation Relocation'' extending the program to other tribes and encouraging their move into designated urban centers.
Upon arriving at assigned destinations, BIA relocation officers offered counseling, help in locating housing, job training and employment placement assistance. Fifty-four percent of the relocatees arrived from South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. The other 46 percent came from Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. They turned up in buses, on trains and in dilapidated vehicles in cities such as Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The personal stories of relocatees and their children who were subsequently raised in cities show that the migrants employed many innovative strategies to contend with the daunting challenges of urban life.
The formation of Indian social centers was essential in the successful transition from reservation to city. These civic organizations provided a comfortable framework for introduction to the uncertain urban environment. They helped minimize the stress of change and offered support in the struggle to adapt to attitudes, values, and behaviors commonly associated with city living. Offering additional support to individuals by allowing them to confront problems, fears and new situations as a group, Indian centers became an integral part of the community.
In cities during the 1950s and 1960s, expanded opportunities for education played a critical role in the creation of a stronger Indian political voice. Viewing the dissatisfaction of many Americans in those decades, urban Indians came to realize the value and validity of tradition as well as the wisdom of their elders.
Re-establishing connections to culture and homeland - vital connections that had been dulled through years of forced acculturation - sparked a resurgence of cultural pride and a return to time-honored values. Rather than simply occupying a space within the melting pot of mainstream urban society, they created their own unique position - as dual citizens of two nations - fully able to function in the modern world through a belief and reliance on traditional, tribal values. Where Indians had once been reticent to speak forcefully about injustices, urban Indians became increasingly verbal - creating national public awareness for tribal issues, rejecting total assimilation and creating a new and powerful voice in America.
It is ironic that the 20th century drive toward urbanization that aimed at eradicating tribalism and sovereignty and forcing assimilation, actually served to help Indians strengthen tribal sovereignty and redefine modern tribalism. Tribalism has generally been described as ''morals, beliefs, and identity with a tribe or socio-political organization, families, clans or related groups that share a common ancestry.''
Modern tribalism however, has been expanded to include members of groups other than familial relatives that share commonalities. In the urban setting, this includes the association of ''Pan-Indians'' - citizens of many different tribal nations - who also congregate as members of the urban Indian community as a whole.
By carrying modern urban political methodologies back to the reservation to bolster historic practices and values, city Indians have enhanced social awareness and visibility both on and off the reservation. This has helped improve the collective socio-political and legal standing of American Indians and tribes across the nation.
