Kansas City Indian Center Information

Founded in 1971, the Heart of America Indian Center (HAIC) operates as the Kansas City area's only multi-purpose social service agency for Native Americans. The HAIC has the distinction of being the one of the oldest, continuously-operating Indian center (of 46 such urban organizations) in the nation. Following World War II, with government relocation and training programs and a formal policy in the early 1950s of reservation termination Native Americans began "migrating" to urban areas. To help sustain the cultural and spirit beliefs of their tribes, local elders began a social club: The Council Fires of Greater Kansas City. With the advent of Indian set-aside programs in the "Great Society " era, the center was founded as a formal, tax-exempt, 501-c-3 organization to accept Federal, state and private funds for poverty-oriented social programs.