American Indian Culture and Research Journal

In 1928 the Institute for Government Research published the results of its study on the conditions of the nation’s indigenous population. This inquiry, commonly known as the Meriam report, included a chapter on “migrated Indians,” acknowledging the fact that American Indians had begun to move away from reservations to the nation’s urban areas. The report estimated the number of these Indians at less than 10,000 nationally, but recognized that “general social and economic forces will inevitably operate to accelerate the migration of Indians from reservations to industrial communities.” This prediction proved correct. The decades since World War II especially have witnessed a major geographic redistribution of the Indian population in the United States from reservations to urban centers. This change in residence patterns resulted partly from the relocation and employment assistance programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), but general trends in American society also contributed to the migrations. World War II brought many Indian women and men to cities through military service or employment in the war industries; some stayed after the war was over. Changes in the nation’s eco-group in Phoenix. Interviews with activists in the community reveal women’s significant contributions to this process. They served as volunteers in church organizations, worked as professionals in the Phoenix Indian Center, and attempted to organize the community as a political force in the city. As they gained experience with the public space in their community work, they also became aware of power relationships that limited their choices and denied them their rights as Indian women. This awareness led to their organizing as women and to their identification of issues in terms of gender, displaying attitudes and opinions reflective of feminism. However, interviews with these women offer a very different perspective on their motivation and their relationship to feminism. Feminists or reformers? This article allows Indian women to determine the answer.