Perspectives of Indigenous realities rarely focus on life lived in major metropolitan centres. Instead there is a tendency to frame rural and remote locations as central to the survival of Indigenous cultures and societies. However recent censuses show that in many countries Indigenous populations are now mainly urban populations. According to the 2006 Canadian Census, 53.2 per cent of Aboriginal people lived in urban areas (Statistics Canada 2008a). Aboriginal populations comprise the largest minority group in many prairie cities, and their social and economic conditions are central to the future of these cities. Three common misperceptions about urban Aboriginal people interfere with our understanding of the urban Aboriginal experience. The first is the assumption that Aboriginal people are abandoning reserves and rural communities and concentrating in inner city areas. The second is that Aboriginal cultures and urban life are incompatible, and that in order to be successful, Aboriginal people need to assimilate to mainstream culture. The third is that urban Aboriginal people are primarily a marginalized socio-economic group. This seminar examines these assumptions in the context of current statistical data as well as qualitative information we have available about the urban Aboriginal experience.

Evelyn Peters is Professor in University of Saskatchewan