Day 18: Where Native Americans Live
Choose one thing to read, watch, listen to, do, or engage with today. Try to mix it up each day between the categories!
READ
Relocation - National Council of Urban Indian Health Check out this page where you’ll find reading and watching resources about Urban Indians. National Council of Urban Indian Health
Most Native Americans live in cities, not reservations. Here are their stories In the 1950s the US government forcefully relocated Native Americans to urban areas to become “productive” members of society. It also intentionally placed Indian orphans into the homes of white families. The consequences have been devastating. By Joe Whittle The Guardian (2017)
Indian Cities: Histories of Indigenous Urbanism Two of the biggest fallacies about Native peoples and cities this piece aims to unsettle are that Indigenous urban history begins in the middle of the twentieth century and, closely related, that Native peoples are incompatible with urban areas. by Kent Blansett, Cathleen D. Cahill & Andrew Needham Penn State
WATCH
Native American Reservations, Explained. Tai Leclaire (Kanien'kehá:ka Mohawk and Mi'kmaq) breaks down all you need to know about the Reservation system and why “Rez Life” is critical to the Native American experience. PBS: A People's History of Native America series with (2024) 11 minutes T CC
1989 American Indian Activist Russell Means testifies at Senate Hearing Russell Means (Oglala Lakota) co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM) describes in scathing detail the US government’s failed Indian “leadership” and the human toll it’s taking. C-SPAN (1989) 18 minutes T CC
American Experience: The Relocation of Native Americans The US government thought one way to solve the “Indian problem” was to relocate Indians from the reservation to the bigger cities. This short piece is a glimpse into the relocation experience.. PBS: American Experience (2009) 2 minutes CC
LISTEN
VAWA Sovereignty Initiative Update
SCOTUS Victory: Affirmation of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation’s Reservation
(McGirt v. Oklahoma) How sovereignty and tribal jurisdiction relates to MMIW and other legal cases. Speaking Our Truth: Podcast for Change (2020) 23 minutes
BRING IT HOME
Before watching the below 1 minute video, consider these questions:
Where do you think indigenous people live?
Do you think they still practice their culture?
What do you think they wear?
Native Circumnavigators of the World and Discoverers of Europe and Other Lands Before 1492 by W. Fox Tree, 1988 (photo by Claudia A. Fox Tree)
DO
Google “[city] or [state] “Indigenous Trails near me” and go walk them.
EXPLORE & REFLECT
American Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States: 2020 A snapshot of the evolving map of Indigenous reservations across the US.
Native American Population by State What do you notice about your state? Where do you think Indigenous people in your state are living?
T Transcript Available
CC Closed Captions Available