# A 1950s relocation promise that broke a family

> Marie Clements turns the U.S. Native American Relocation Program into the story of one mother and her three daughters.
- Title: A 1950s relocation promise that broke a family | Shortify
- Summary: Marie Clements turns the U.S. Native American Relocation Program into the story of one mother and her three daughters. The relocation program sold city jobs…
- Keywords: indigenous film, tiff, relocation program, native american history, marie clements, 1950s, relocation, promise, broke, family, The Hollywood Reporter
- Source: The Hollywood Reporter — https://hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/how-we-stand-film-director-interview-toronto-2026-tiff-1236683328
- Author: Etan Vlessing
- Published: 2026-09-13T14:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: indigenous film, tiff, relocation program, native american history, marie clements
## Los Angeles has a Native heart
A large urban Indigenous community lives in LA today, and it exists because of a federal policy written seventy years ago.

> Los Angeles is home to a sizable urban indigenous community
## The 1950s relocation push
The U.S. government launched the Native American Relocation Program in the 1950s, moving American Indians off rural reservations and into big cities.
## Jobs that were promised
People left home expecting better work and better lives in the city. That promise is what the film puts on trial.

> what they hoped would be better jobs and lives in major cities
## Clements tells it through one family
Canadian Indigenous director Marie Clements builds her drama How We Stand around Angela, a fictional single mother, and her three daughters.
## Oklahoma to Los Angeles
Angela's move is the arc of the whole program in miniature, and in the film it ends in tragedy rather than opportunity.
## The policy was the point
Racism, sexism and violence hit the family, all flowing from government policies aimed at wiping out Native culture.

> historical U.S. government policies that sought the cultural eradication of native Indians
## Key takeaway

The relocation program sold city jobs and a better life, but it was built to erase Native culture, and families paid for it.