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During the 1950's, economic prosperity and modern advances in medicine, industry, and education gave white Americans promising lifestyles. Concurrently, Native Americans were being forced to assimilate into mainstream culture by the Federal government, unable to attain the "American Dream."

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Reflection on Native American Conditions in the 1950's 

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Reflection on Native American Conditions in the 1950's 

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In the second half of the poem, "Ceremony," it mentions the destruction of nature and Native people. In relation to the physical death of nature and Native tribes described in the poem, Native Americans endured a metaphorical death of their culture because of what the B.I.A called the Voluntary Relocation Program during the 50's. When the author refers to the, "Stolen rivers and mountains the stolen lands will eat their harts and jerk their mouth from the mother"(Silko, Leslie From "Ceremony") it relates to the notion of Native Americans' stolen ability to practice their culture in the 50's.

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During the 1950's, consumerism in America sky rocketed, where 70 percent of america was middle class and spending their extra money on consumer items that had just been introduced like toasters, lawn mowers, and dish washers,  they enjoyed taking out loans for things they bought, and throwing out the old. on the other hand, native Americans have not had the same economic liberties "have a high unemployment rate, and nearly 60 per cent of those with jobs work for tribal or US government agencies. On some reservations the unemployment rate is as high as 90 per cent. In 1999, 66.7 per cent of Native American men and 57.6 per cent of women were employed, but their median earnings were substantially lower than those of the general US population" this caused native Americans to not be able to participate in leisure consumerism
( https://minorityrights.org/minorities/native-americans/)

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Lots of Native Americans served in the military, mainly because they have a "proud warrior" like culture. After the second world war, lots of  Native American veterans came back and tried to move into suburbs or build homes they found that they couldn't but their Caucasian counterparts could. The reason they couldn't was that instead of gaining benefits from the GI Bill they were "quite frequently directed American Indian veterans to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to access relocation rather than". This was a major problem because they didn't get mortgage benefits nor could they take out loans for building or buying houses. As a result, they came back poorer than when they left.
(aspeninstitute.org)

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(With the economic boom in America at the time, big cities allowed for affordable suburbs targeted at middle class Americans. Along with this, society had also made big advancements in medicine and health, causing people to live longer and be more healthy.  while everyone enjoyed these new advancement, "As documented in the Merriam Report of 1928, Native Americans on and off reservations were left destitute and prone to suicide, alcoholism and mental illness; housing and health conditions were abysmal."  Native Americans were largely left out and stuck in dated reservations.
(minorityrights.org)

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One of many Native American families that were relocated in major urban cities(like L.A. and Cleveland)with the promise of good jobs, education, and familiar faces (other Native Americans).

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In the summer of 1964, Charlotte and Clyde Day and six of their children boarded a train in Minnesota bound for Cleveland. The Day family was moving from a small cabin near the Nett Lake Reservation, where their family had lived for generations. They were convinced to leave their home behind after a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer claimed that, "good jobs, good schools, and even many people from his own tribe, the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe"(Apmreports.org) awaited them in Cleveland. Once Clyde proposed the offer to his family just as the officer did, his daughter Sharon said, "of course we all said yes, that we wanted to go"(Apmreports.org). The Day family were among 100,000 Native Americans to experience what the B.I.A called the Voluntary Relocation Program. The program provided Native Americans who were willing to move to urban cities, one-way transportation and a couple hundred dollars. Essentially, the plan was to move Native Americans to cities, where they'd disappear through the assimilation into mainstream American culture of the 50's. "Then, the government would make tribal land taxable and available for purchase and development. The vision was that eventually there would be no more BIA, no more tribal governments, no more reservations, and no more Native Americans"(Apmreports.org).

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This matters now because the assimilation and inequitable treatment of Native Americans in the 1950's still negatively impacts their culture today.

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Native American: Indigenous people of the American continent
B.I.A.: Bureau of Indian Affairs
Harry Truman: 33rd President of the United States
President Nixon: 37th President of the United States
Voluntary Relocation Program: United States law intended to encourage American Indians to leave Indian reservations and their traditional lands, and to assimilate into the general population in urban areas.