Our Elders Lived It: American Indian Identity in the City

More than half of all Native Americans live in cities, yet urban indians have not received the same attention as traditional indians who dwell on reservations. This groundbreaking anthropological investigation shatters stereotypes of what it means to be an ndian in America, arguing that the transition to an urban lifestyle requires a reshaping and reconceptualizing of self-identity.

One of the most pressing concerns facing urban Native Americans today is the question of what constitutes a legitimate claim to Native identity. The importance of identity emerges in such practical matters as participation in tribal functions, entitlement to community aid, and political representation. The appropriation of indian symbols and lifeways by nonIndians has further blurred notions of identity.

Explaining that ethnic identity is constructed and maintained through social interaction, Jackson demonstrates the importance of community in indian culture. Our Elders Lived It is the result of extensive fieldwork in an Upper Great Lakes midsized city, where life has been complicated by economic misfortune and social deprivation. Informed but not dominated by identity theory, Jackson’s sensitive interviews and personal narratives allow the indian community to speak for itself and to present its own vision of the challenges facing urban Native Americans.