Indigenous Suburbs: Settler Colonialism, Housing Policy, and American Indians in Suburbia
2016-05
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Indigenous Suburbs: Settler Colonialism, Housing Policy, and American Indians in Suburbia
Authors
Published Date
2016-05
Publisher
Type
Thesis or Dissertation
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes the suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota as historically Indian places and demonstrates the continuous residency of American Indians in suburbs. In order to uncover the indigenous history of the suburban Twin Cities, I use an interdisciplinary methodology that includes a demographic analysis of U.S. Census data, a close reading of historical archives, and auto-ethnography based on my personal experiences as a suburban Indian to challenge common narratives of suburbia and to underscore the participation of American Indian people in the processes of suburbanization. Part one of this dissertation focuses on the years between the end of the U.S.-Dakota War (1862) and the start of World War I. Here, I argue Indian people were engaged in the early development of Indian places into suburbs despite policies to remove Indian people and the growing number of non-Native settlers who eclipsed an Indian presence. In part two, I focus on the policies that shaped suburbia and Indian Country during the second half of the twentieth century. I examine the role of World War II era federal housing policies that promoted suburbanization and new home construction, specifically the 1944 G.I. Bill home loan program. My analysis interrogates how the federal Indian policies of Relocation and Termination prevented American Indian suburbanization and homeownership and critiques the more recent Section 184 American Indian Home Loan Program. I problematize scholarship in American studies, urban studies, and suburban studies by challenging narratives of suburbia that predominately focus on whiteness, domesticity, and homeownership in the post-World War II period.
Description
University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.May 2016. Major: American Studies. Advisors: Jean O'Brien, Brenda Child. 1 computer file (PDF); xii,i,, 245 pages.
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Suggested citation
Keeler, Kasey. (2016). Indigenous Suburbs: Settler Colonialism, Housing Policy, and American Indians in Suburbia. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/199061.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.