Broadcast: Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 4:00 p.m.
In the 1950s, government pamphlets and films promised that Native people who agreed to relocation would find a better life in cities. But when they arrived, they were met with open discrimination and struggled to find good jobs and housing. As their numbers in cities grew, however, Native Americans from hundreds of different tribes found each other and solidified their political power. They created American Indian Centers and schools, and formed activist organizations like the American Indian Movement.
Today, about two-thirds of Native Americans live in cities, not on reservations. Many Native people have joined the middle class, but termination and relocation did long-term damage — and the effects are still evident. Native Americans are at the bottom of lists of grim statistics when it comes to poverty, drug addiction, and homelessness.
This documentary looks at how native leaders are confronting inequities and charting their own, uniquely indigenous future.
Listen to archive of the program here.