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.