DOC USS Cairo (Images of Modern America) by Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner in History

Description

For decades; most American Indians have lived in cities; not on reservations or in rural areas. Still; scholars; policymakers; and popular culture often regard Indians first as reservation peoples; living apart from non-Native Americans. In this book; Nicolas Rosenthal reorients our understanding of the experience of American Indians by tracing their migration to cities; exploring the formation of urban Indian communities; and delving into the shifting relationships between reservations and urban areas from the early twentieth century to the present. With a focus on Los Angeles; which by 1970 had more Native American inhabitants than any place outside the Navajo reservation; Reimagining Indian Country shows how cities have played a defining role in modern American Indian life and examines the evolution of Native American identity in recent decades. Rosenthal emphasizes the lived experiences of Native migrants in realms including education; labor; health; housing; and social and political activism to understand how they adapted to an urban environment; and to consider how they formed--and continue to form--new identities. Though still connected to the places where indigenous peoples have preserved their culture; Rosenthal argues that Indian identity must be understood as dynamic and fully enmeshed in modern global networks.