The Intertribal Friendship House (IFH) of Oakland is one of the oldest Native American-focused urban resource and community organizations in the United States. Founded in 1955, IFH was created by local residents, similarly to American Indian Center in Chicago. Beginning in 1952, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) supported a plan to relocate Native Americans to urban areas, further encouraged by the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. The IFH served as a hub for Native American activism in the Bay Area throughout the 20th century.[1]Millie Ketcheschawno became the IFH's first woman president in the 1970s after deep involvement with the Occupation of Alcatraz.
The IFH continues to offer educational activities, elder and youth programs, holiday meals, counseling for social services, space for community meetings, conferences, receptions, memorials, and family affairs.[2][3] According to author Ed Vulliamy, 90% of Native Americans in California, "of which the majority are not indigenous California tribes," currently "live in cities."[4]
Related Groups
Organizations and institutions, especially of the San Francisco Bay Area that at some point were or are currently related to or affiliated with IFH include:[3]
Friendship House Association of American Indians: An inpatient substance abuse treatment center in San Francisco. Former board member "[Peter] Bratt, whose mother is indigenous Peruvian, explained that 'today most of our clients are from California tribes.' "[5]
^Kubal, Timothy (2008), Kubal, Timothy (ed.), "Ethnic: American Indian", Cultural Movements and Collective Memory: Christopher Columbus and the Rewriting of the National Origin Myth, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, p. 66, doi:10.1057/9780230615762_4, ISBN978-0-230-61576-2, retrieved 2023-03-16
