Item Detail
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11997
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0
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0
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English
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Newcomers to the Urban West : Navajos and Samoans in Salt Lake City, Utah, 1945-1995
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Logan, UT
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Utah State University
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Master's thesis
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'Navajo and Samoan people began to move to Salt Lake City, Utah, as early as the 1940s and they continue to move there today. By 1990, this western city was home to at least 3,900 Navajos and 1,400 Samoans. Why did they move there? How did they adjust to their new home? This thesis examines those two fundamental questions. Navajos and Samoans came to Utah's capital because--like other large, industrial cities--it possessed greater economic opportunities than their homelands did. At the same time, a large number of Navajos, and an overwhelming number of Samoans, chose Salt Lake City over other urban areas because of its position as the worldwide headquarters of the Mormon religion. The migrants struggled to adjust to their new home. Like other migrant groups, however, Navajos and Samoans have devised ways of fitting in to their adopted surroundings while simultaneously maintaining the core elements of their traditional culture.' (author's abstract)