The ongoing process of the formation of urban American and Canadian Indian ethnic institutions is discussed in terms of four stages, each dominated by a distinct set of institutions: (1) bar culture cliques and "Indian problem" institutions designed and staffed by social welfare agencies; (2) Indian centers and kinship-friendship networks; (3) common interest associations; athletic, religious, social, and political; and (4) advanced institutions that simultaneously serve Indians and the general public. Within this framework the emergence of a new, urban-based, pan-Indian, ethnic culture is perceived. (Author/EH)