Statistics indicate that over half of all people in Canada who identify as an Aboriginal person (which includes First Nation, Métis and Inuit) live in an urban centre and that this urban component of residence is growing over time. Statistics also indicate that most of the Aboriginal people who live in urban centres live below the normal range of socio-economic indicators of wellness. Also of significance is that there is no mandate for the governance of Aboriginal peoples in urban centres comparable, for example, to the governance of First Nations on reserve. So urban centres remain spaces inhabited by Aboriginal peoples as they remain there or travel back and forth from reserves. This mobility pattern has been labelled as „churn‟. I originally proposed to go beyond the quantifiable aspects and deliberate on other aspects of the urban Aboriginal experience and ask whether „churn‟ respects the lived experiences of Aboriginal peoples. I thought that looking at the urban experience through an Aboriginal, rather than a statistical lens, would allow reconsideration of the notion of „churn‟ in the deliberations of urban Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Since I made this proposal the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study (UAPS) was published. As much as I want to move away from statistics as an analysis of urban Aboriginal peoples I found that statistics on Aboriginal marginalization and the UAPS avoid for  the most part, a discussion of urban Aboriginal politics generally, and of self-determination specifically. Self-determination, for the purpose of this paper, refers to the inclusion of Aboriginal peoples in cultural and political decision-making processes that affects their lives. This paper will address how “the statistics” avoid a discussion of self-determination and political mobilization for Aboriginal peoples in urban centres. First, it will describe churn as unique to the urban Aboriginal experience. Second, it will look at the Aboriginal urban experience as informed by the critical issues submitted to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). Third it will look at selected aspects of the UAPS that pertain to Aboriginal identity, traditional practices and political participation, with a discussion of these findings. The conclusion will bring these three components together to assess Aboriginal politics in urban centres beyond the statistics. (Author)