Chicago Conference to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Groundbreaking Conference

by Native News Network staff in Native Currents. Discussion »

Arizona State University Professor Fixico to be Keynoter

CHICAGO - The School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago will host a one-day conference this Saturday called “American Indian Urban Families and Communities.”

Donald Fixico - Shawnee

The conference will celebrate the 50th anniversary of a conference held in 1961 that brought together American Indians in Chicago who moved there from either reservations or rural areas. Many were tribal members who were moved to urban centers such, as Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Denver, as part of the federal government’s policy of relocation.

The 1961 conference was organized by Sol Tax, a noted University of Chicago anthropologist. The conference was the first time the relocated urban Indians came together in Chicago to discuss living in two worlds.

The keynote speaker of this year’s conference is Donald Fixico (Shawnee, Sac & Fox, Muscogee Creek and Seminole), who is Distinguished Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University. He formerly taught at the University of Kansas and Western Michigan University.

“I am looking forward to coming to Chicago. I have lived there twice. In a way, it will be like going home,” commented Fixico on his upcoming speaking engagement. Fixico’s academic work has produced several papers on relocation and the urban experience of American Indians. He is considered an expert of urban Indians within the academia.

“We can point to Chicago and Los Angeles where the intellect of American Indians has advanced,”

said Fixico.

“We have to make sure the Native middle-class remains relevant.”

The conference begins at 9 am and concludes at 2 pm. Other activities include a panel discussion by a group of Chicago-based educators.

Go to the University of Chicago for more information.