Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Urban Indigeneity”

In this activity, students will build on Tommy Orange’s image of urban Indigenous life in the Bay Area by researching and presenting on other urban areas with Indigenous communities.

Indigenous Americans can be found everywhere in the United States, whether they were relocated as part of the American government’s efforts in the mid-to-late 20th century or if they moved there on their own. Each community and its events are specific to the individual tribe or tribes that live in a space as well.

Split into groups based on your teacher’s instruction. Then, you will be assigned one of the following cities to research:

• Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
• St. Louis, MO
• Tulsa, OK
• Anchorage, AK
• New York, NY
• Tucson, AZ
• Albuquerque, NM
• New York, NY

Once you have been given your city, research the following questions:

• Using Native-Land Digital, determine what tribal nations lived on the land where these cities are. Then investigate what happened to these nations.
• What Indigenous communities are still in these cities, and what tribal nations do they belong to?
• Find at least one community organization that serves a tribal community in your assigned city.