Chicago's American Indians generally migrated in response to an urban dominant society, Bureau of Indian Affairs training programs, or termination of the Menomenee Reservation. A comparison of black with Native American status in Chicago indicates a vast economic differential resulting from the Indian's lack of political clout, longevity, and employable skills in an economy now far more rigid than that faced by urban migrating blacks of earlier decades. Apparent similarities between Indian urban migrants and those of earlier minorities include propensity for a mobile existence and lack of socio-cultural cohesion (e.g., the Italians). Major differences between urban Indians and other earlier urban minorities stem from the economic liability of mobile living today and the long established heritage of a non-western culture at odds with life in the modern urban sector. It is the combination of cultural heritage, skills unsuited for the national economy, and urbanization at the bottom of the socio-economic scale that perpetrates Indian disadvantagement. Yet, the Mohawks of Brooklyn, New York have combined traditional values with much needed urban skills to become high-altitude construction workers, known for the quality and courage of their work. Perhaps, the most positive potential for Indian urbanization may come in the guise of Indian leadership intent upon eradicating the American belief that land is a civil liberty rather than a social resource. (JC)