Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck

Author:Laurel Goodluck [Goodluck, Laurel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

From the Reservation to the City

My parents moved from the Reservation to the city as the result of the federal

Indian Relocation Act of 1956, pitched as vocational job training. In actuality, the

federal government wanted to erase Native culture by moving Native people to

cities so they would adapt to the lifestyles of white people (called “assimilation”).

This policy resulted in few job opportunities, poverty, and the overall loss of

cultural support for many individuals and families. As of the 2010 census, 78

percent of us live away from our Reservations or tribal homelands.

My mom and dad were young, single, and recent graduates of the Haskell

Institute, a post–high school vocational and business institution in Lawrence,

Kansas (now Haskell Indian Nations University), so they were ready for an

adventure and applied to the federal relocation program. Because my parents

and their siblings graduated from Haskell with trade skills, they were able to

find employment or continue college in the city. But the government’s promise

of job training went unfulfilled for most tribal people. Unfortunately, many

families who moved to cities faced discrimination and racism. Luckily my

parents had a Haskell Alumni Association club in the Bay Area, where they found

a group of intertribal friends to lean on.

The treatment of Native Americans in the United States was and sometimes

still is despicable. But as with the family in this story and with my own family,

unjust experiences forge tight bonds between us and make us strong. Our

resiliency is rooted in our ceremonies and culture. We have a deep love of home.

The land reminds us of our ancestors, storytelling helps us make good decisions,

and we continue to have love and loyal family connections that are unbreakable.

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