Our History

Little Earth is a 9.4 acre, 212-unit Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized housing complex located in the urban industrial core of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the East Phillips Neighborhood.  It is home to nearly 1,000 residents, 50% of whom are under the age of 21.  Little Earth was founded in 1973 and remains the only Indigenous preference project-based Section 8 rental assistance community in the United States. The Little Earth community has become a model for organizing on a variety of environmental and social justice issues, as well as a model of self-determination for all Native peoples. Although originally intended to be temporary housing, Little Earth residents prefer to live close to or in the community due to the communities’ cultural identity and the need for cultural preservation.

The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 encouraged Native people to leave their reservations and move to cities, and Minneapolis saw an influx of Native people from all over the Midwest. This geographic extraction was another attempt at forced assimilation and resulted in residents becoming disconnected from their cultural and tribal identities. Intergenerational knowledge of culture is often lost or forgotten with youth unaware of the cultural knowledge of their elders. Little Earth was formed in 1973 in a response to housing discrimination and created a community for Native people to remain culturally connected and seek resiliency and create systems change. Grass roots activism created Little Earth, and has been a hallmark of the Little Earth community since its earliest form in the 1970's. Founded in 1973 and incorporated in November of 1983, Little Earth of United Tribes is an American Indian community designed to provide its residents with the skills and experience to assist on their journeys toward economic stability and self- determination.

The Little Earth Residents Association (LERA) was founded for engagement and representation with HUD. LERA now serves as a community center that offers comprehensive holistic programming for residents as well as individual support. Our renewed effort to create and build the capacity of our residents has provided greater representation and voice for Little Earth with emerging leaders representing our Indigenous values.