Indigibits
Urban Natives in Portland
Portland, Oregon, claims the 9th largest population of Urban Indians in the nation, representing 380 tribes. Urban Natives are not a kind of Indian, it is an experience and one that most Native Americans have had. How did this come to be?
The 1953 US Congress terminated tribal sovereignty for several (not all) Oregon reservations. This act included the redistribution of tribal lands to private sales and government agencies. Most terminated reservation residents were bussed to large urban cities. Varied support was offered, but too often it was only a one-way bus ticket. What ensued was another period of removal, poverty, and the loss of family and cultural ties.
Presently, Urban Native hubs have formed to support the Urban Native population in Portland. Some include Portland State University’s NASCC (Native American Student and Community Center), the Native American Teacher program, Indigenous Studies Major. Also present are the Center for Tribal Nations, NAYA Family Center, NARA (Native American Rehabilitation Association), and recently, the CCC (Collective Coalition of Communities of Color).
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“Portland is home to the nation’s ninth largest urban Native American population. Many factors have contributed to Portland’s estimated 58,135 Native Americans that represent more than 380 tribal affiliations.”
The roots of Portland’s Native American community, July 10, 2017, Metro News article by Maiya Osife.
“In the twenty-first century, Native American residents of urban areas include people from across the region and the larger United States. Enrolled members of Northwest tribes who live in urban areas often have ancestral treaty rights to fish and gather along riverways. Some citizens or descendants of Indigenous people represent degrees of tribal affiliation; some are enrolled, some are not, but all have significant ancestral ties to their tribes and tribal homelands.”
Urban Indians in Oregon, Oregon Encyclopedia essay by Claudia Welala Long (Nez Perce).
“First Nations Development Institute and the National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) partnered in 2013 to conduct the three-year “Urban Native Project” aimed at “off reservation” Native American population centers….
“The project’s goal is to support new and expanded activities in urban American Indian environments with the goal of improving opportunities that can be attained in all Native American urban communities.”
Urban Native Project, a project of the First Nations Development Institute and the National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC).
“Founded by the community, for the community, NAYA is a family of numerous tribes and voices who are rooted in sustaining tradition and building cultural wealth. We provide culturally-specific programs and services that guide our people in the direction of personal success and balance through cultural empowerment. Our continuum of lifetime services create a wraparound, holistic healthy environment that is Youth Centered, Family Driven, Elder Guided.”
About the Native American Youth and Family Center.