Home in the City: Urban Aboriginal Housing and Living Conditions

by Alan B. Anderson

Overview

During the past several decades, the Aboriginal population of Canada has become so urbanized that today, the majority of First Nations and Métis people live in cities. Home in the City provides an in-depth analysis of urban Aboriginal housing, living conditions, issues, and trends. Based on extensive research, including interviews with more than three thousand residents, it allows for the emergence of a new, contemporary, and more realistic portrait of Aboriginal people in Canada’s urban centres.

Home in the City focuses on Saskatoon, which has both one of the highest proportions of Aboriginal residents in the country and the highest percentage of Aboriginal people living below the poverty line. While the book details negative aspects of urban Aboriginal life (such as persistent poverty, health problems, and racism), it also highlights many positive developments: the emergence of an Aboriginal middle class, inner-city renewal, innovative collaboration with municipal and community organizations, and more. Alan B. Anderson and the volume’s contributors provide an important resource for understanding contemporary Aboriginal life in Canada.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442662247
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	09/20/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	472
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Alan B. Anderson is a professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology and a research fellow in Ethnic and Indigenous Studies in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

Table of Contents

Tables

Acronyms

1. Introduction

2. Demographics

The Complexity and Reliability of Urban Aboriginal Data

Growth and Distribution of the Aboriginal Population of Saskatoon

Socio-demographic Profile of the Aboriginal Population of Saskatoon

3. First Nations in the City

Reserve Conditions and Migration to Cities

Migration and Mobility Between Reserve and City: Whitecap Dakota/Sioux First Nation Residents in Saskatoon (A.B. Anderson, University of Saskatchewan)

Urban Housing Needs of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation (A.B. Anderson)

4. Neighbourhood Living

Aboriginal Living Conditions and Health

Meeting the People: Aboriginal Residents Speak Out (A.B. Anderson)

Community Voices: Assessing Capacity and Needs Within Inner-city Neighbourhoods (A.B. Anderson)

Patterns and Influences of Home Ownership and Renting in Pleasant Hill (D. Lanceley, University of Saskatchewan)

5. Family, Women, and Youth

The Role of Family, Women and Youth in Urban Aboriginal Life

Aboriginal Women Fleeing Violence (S.T. Prokop, First Nations University of Canada, and J. Sanderson, First Nations University of Canada)

HIV/AIDS and Urban Aboriginal Women (C. Romanow, University of Saskatchewan)

The City as Home: The Sense of Belonging Among Aboriginal Youth (G. MacKay, University of Saskatchewan)

6. Affordable Housing

Affordability and the Housing Crisis

Affordable Home Ownership for Aboriginal People: Financial and Funding Options (V. Sutton)

Aboriginal Homelessness (A.B. Anderson)

Home in the City: Photographic Essay (K. Anderson)

7. Housing Providers

Who Provides Housing for Urban Aboriginal People?

Aboriginal Housing Needs: A Survey of SaskNative Rentals Clients (A.B. Anderson)

First Nations Housing in Saskatoon: A Survey of Cress Housing Clients (A.B. Anderson)

8. Special Needs and Housing Design in Urban Aboriginal Housing

Urban Aboriginal Populations in Special Need and Implications for Housing Design

Aboriginal Post-secondary Student Housing (B. Wallace, Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, B. Maire, Alberta Justice, A. Lachance, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations)

The Metis Elders Circle Housing Research Project: A Study to Determine Respectful Sustainable Housing Options for Metis Elders (J. Durocher, SaskNative Rentals, J. Hammersmith, C. Littlejohn, SaskNative Rentals, W. McCaslin, University of Saskatchewan)

9. Aboriginal Participation in Economic and Community Development and Homebuilding

Involving Aboriginal People in Economic and Community Development and the Homebuilding Industry

More Than Four Walls and a Roof (Quint Development Corporation)

Urban Aboriginal Homebuilding Apprenticeships (A. Thomarat, Canadian Home Builders Association)

10. Urban Reserves

The Development of Urban Reserves

Residential Urban Reserves: Issues and Options for Providing Adequate and Affordable Housing (J. Garcea, University of Saskatchewan)

11. Race Relations and Crime

Being Aboriginal in Saskatoon

Race Relations and Housing (C.J.A. Spence, University of Saskatchewan)

Life in the Inner-City: Crime and Policing (A.B. Anderson)

12. Conclusion

Bibliography

Contributors

What People are Saying About This

Tom Carter

“Home in the City offers one of the best reviews and inventories of literature on Aboriginal issues, particularly on Aboriginal housing. It will make a very significant contribution to literature in this area, as it provides important information that should be made available to scholars, students, practitioners, and policy-makers.”

Chris Andersen

“There has been an utter lack of discussion about the city-specific dynamics of urban Aboriginality, and Home in the City does an excellent empirical job of demonstrating ‘Aboriginal Saskatoon’ in all its specificity. Its strengths include the depth of its data and the relationships fostered with Aboriginal groups in undertaking the project.”

Editorial Reviews

There has been an utter lack of discussion about the city-specific dynamics of urban Aboriginality, and Home in the City does an excellent empirical job of demonstrating ‘Aboriginal Saskatoon’ in all its specificity. Its strengths include the depth of its data and the relationships fostered with Aboriginal groups in undertaking the project.”

—Chris Andersen, Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta

“Home in the City offers one of the best reviews and inventories of literature on Aboriginal issues, particularly on Aboriginal housing. It will make a very significant contribution to literature in this area, as it provides important information that should be made available to scholars, students, practitioners, and policy-makers.”

—Tom Carter, Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg

From the Publisher