Today more than sixty percent of the American Indian population live in cities. The U.S. government encouraged the urban migration in the 1950s by developing a federal relocation program. The aim was to attract Indian people to the cities, where jobs were more readily available than on the reservations. For many, relocation was a failure. Although some stayed and built a life, many returned to the reservations.
Unfamiliar challenges confront Native people who move to urban areas.
Life in the city often means living next door to non-Indian strangers. It means trying to balance one's traditional cultural values with the often-conflicting requirements for success in mainstream society.