I’m what’s known, anthropologically, as a “first generation urban Indian”. My family came to Californian in the 1950’s via a program called Relocation. It was meant to assimilate Indians and separate them form their cultures. For the most part it didn’t work. You can take the Indians out of the country but you can’t remove the Indian from the person. Today we’re into the third generation “urbans”, with many Indians being born in the city. Today’s Indian families come from varying tribal communities. Over the years, for a variety of reasons, some economical, Indian families have settled in or near urban centers. In fact today, according to the 200 Census, more than 60% of the Indian population lives in cities.
For many Indians this disconnect from a tribal community can cause emotional conflicts. How do Indians cope with what I call “the walking in two worlds syndrome”. You reconnect to your culture if you have families on reservations or you hang out at the local Indian center. That’s exactly what the folks in this story did.
This is a well done story that looks at the complexities of Seattle area urban Indian life through 2 families; one family who left the reservation to live in the city, and one who was already urban although we’re not sure why. Each family struggled for identity and survival. Over the years each family found that they missed a direct connection to their respective Native communities. Over time each family its way back to Indian culture and community. The children of one family returned to the reservation of their parents. While another adult Indian man becomes connected to Seattle’s multi-cultural or “pan-Indian” urban Indian community. These families are typical many of Native people today. This story shows how important it is for Indians to maintain their cultural identity and most Indians never completely give up their ties to their traditional homelands and cultures.