A “one-man relocation team”: Scott Henry Peters and American Indian Urban Migration in the 1930s

Federal urban relocation programs for American Indians, commonly believed to have been launched in the 1950s, were actually first initiated under the aegis of John Collier's Office of Indian Affairs. As the case study of OIA Placement Officer Scott Henry Peters shows, federal officials recognized by the early 1930s that significant numbers of American Indians were migrating off-reservation. As an American Indian working for the Indian Office, Peters attempted to provide employment opportunities for young American Indian adults migrating to cities and help them adapt to modern urban life. This article extends the literature on urban American Indian history back in time and reveals some of the contradictions inherent in Collier's policy initiatives.