It Takes a Nation to Make a Home

This Summer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the competitive round of the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) and the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG). The IHBG Competitive (due 11/17/22) and ICDBG (due 10/24/22) are both major sources of funding for tribally designated housing entities (TDHE's) and tribal programs. Often these are paired with tribal resources as well as opportunities from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) or USDA Rural Development. Our firm, Blue Star Integrative Studio, has assisted many tribes over the last decade in these pursuits, which often results in financial and technical resources for much-needed infrastructure, housing, community facilities, and more. Having been on the Native non-profit side prior to my founding and practicing my own company for a decade, I was actively involved in lot of grant writing and creation of content. I have witnessed first hand the positive impacts these sources of funding can have on indigenous communities. And I will admit it is a dedication of mine to share knowledge and expertise in the processes of community engagement, planning, design, and budgeting needed to bring proposals and projects to life, which ultimately affirm health, culture, and community cohesiveness. That said, there is a wider conversation about economic and community development for tribal, rural and under-resourced populations, but for tribes it all seems to start with housing.

What is Indian Housing?

When most people hear the term "Indian Housing", the immediate reaction is to associate it with low- to moderate-income people only. And too often, there is a tendency to then dive into stereotypes about the poverty, dysfunction and lack of hope perceived to surround "those people" living in "those houses." That is unfortunate, and largely false. As we've previously discussed in the earlier edition of De la Luz titled, "Fooled by Fat Takers," tribal nations had their own economic systems in place long before the arrival of Europeans. Over time, as Tribes made treaties, experienced all manner of Acts of U.S. Congress, and faced assimilation and termination attempts, those systems were broken and too often so re-configured, that not much recognizable remained intact. Interruptions to the traditional indigenous economies and systems of shelter dramatically play into the history of Indian Housing as we know it today. In order to understand the more modern realities of Indian Housing, one does well to start at the very beginning.

Prior to Columbus' arrival in the Americas, indigenous civilizations had created thriving communities and central hubs for trading and religious purposes. A lot of what they used to create housing was directly related to what resources they had access to. Woodland Tribes had forests, thus creating lodges out of bent trees, bark, etc. Plains Tribes had access to the tall prairie grass and the vast amount of buffalo at the time. If the tribe was nomadic, they used tipis wrapped in animal hides for ease of set up and tear down. Some Southern Plains Tribes, such as the Wichita, lived in houses created from thatched prairie grass, and in the Southwest, some tribes built pueblos using clay blocks and used cactus for ramadas, or shade structures. Alaskan/Inuit Natives, would built igloos out of padded snow and ice blocks. Traditional indigenous housing was highly contextual, and responded to each tribe's environment, climate, and way of life.

Even after the arrival of colonists in the 17th century, there wasn't much change in tribal housing structures. The colonies were still small at the time and under the control of the British monarchy. After the Revolutionary War and America winning its independence from the crown, the new U.S. Government created the Land Ordinance of 1785, confiscating all "unsettled" lands and putting them up for sale. At the time, lands considered unsettled were those belonging to Lords from Europe. As the United States expanded, so did their interactions with Tribes. Their procurement and redistribution of indigenous homelands under the premise that these lands were also "unsettled", even though one could only imagine Native Americans who called those lands their aboriginal homelands would have begged to differ, had any of the newly arrived had thought to inquire.

During the time of growth and expansion for the United States in the early 1800s, leaders of the new Republic, such as Thomas Jefferson, would muse and write about Native Americans quite a bit. Mr. Jefferson was particularly fascinated by Natives, but through a strongly paternalistic point of view, going so far as to consistently refer to them as his Children. He did not seem to understand how indigenous peoples could be content with their "simple" means of living, despite their proven track record of sustaining and maintaining their lifestyles and traditions for thousands of years. In a letter to Indiana Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison, Jefferson said, "The decrease of game rendering their subsistence by hunting insufficient, we wish to draw (the Indians) to agriculture, to spinning and weaving... When they withdraw themselves to the culture of a small piece of land, they will perceive how useless to them are their extensive forests, and will be willing to pare them off from time to time in exchange for necessaries for their farms and families." That was the attitude of the time, and the very early beginnings of American exceptionalism.

"When they withdraw themselves to the culture of a small piece of land, they will perceive how useless to them are their extensive forests, and will be willing to pare them off from time to time in exchange for necessaries for their farms and families."

-Thomas Jefferson, 1803

After decades of the quote-unquote "Indian Wars" and removals orchestrated throughout the 1800's, one could surmise many tribes got tired of the encroachments, fighting, and in some cases, the outright attempts at extermination through starvation and destruction of their sources of food and raw materials. Thus, the 1800's saw many treaties made and re-made, as well as an uptick in the U.S. Congress passing laws and acts intended to confine indigenous peoples to life on reservations, divide up their land base, and adopt the "better" American way of living and doing. These treaties often referenced goods and services provided to the Tribes, creating the trust relationships between them and the United States government. Although treaties such as the Treaty of Ft. Laramie, signed first in 1851 and again in 1868, offered small amounts of money, clothing, and resources in return for Native land, there is little to no direct verbiage of the United States' responsibility to provide housing for the Native people once they agreed to life on the reservations. Because of this - whether intentional or not, housing for Native people would become grossly inadequate for over a century.

The first official Indian housing authority was established on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1961, which was also the first housing authority of any kind in South Dakota. The Oglala Sioux Tribe's soon-to-be President, Johnson Holy Rock, had returned home from serving in the second World War hoping to find his people and his reservation in better shape than when he had left. Unfortunately, Holy Rock came back to much of the same. In an article from the Lakota Times in 2012, Holy Rock recalled his return, "No modern black top, no roads, no nothing. I was so disappointed. And the Tribe was so poverty stricken it wasn’t even funny. The economy was in shambles. A lot of people died...We were still where we were before the war." So how was Holy Rock able to acquire housing funds for the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation? Instead of laying down arms, he jumped into action. Holy Rock became Tribal President and began advocating for his people's needs, rubbing elbows with politicians and others who would listen.

"No modern black top, no roads, no nothing. I was so disappointed. And the Tribe was so poverty stricken it wasn’t even funny. The economy was in shambles..."

Johnson Holy Rock, 2012 (Lakota Times)

As time went on, Holy Rock found himself running in the same circles as then U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. Kennedy listened to Holy Rock and, after winning his presidential campaign, eventually invited him to the Oval Office for the announcement of the first public housing planning grant for a Native American reservation, awarded to Holy Rock and the Oglala Lakota people. This was shortly before HUD as a cabinet level agency and the Civil Rights Act were brought into reality in the mid-1960's. In September of 1961, JFK provided the Oglala Lakota Nation with $30,000 to construct 150 low-rent homes. Sadly, JFK was assassinated before he could do much else to help Native people, but his work with Johnson Holy Rock lit the spark needed to make drastic changes to Indian Housing.

What is Next for Indian Housing

When talking about Indian Housing in today's rapidly changing world, the stigma of it being only "poor people housing" has to end. The geography and economics continue to evolve. Urban Native enclaves continue to evolve, yet there are a lot more people living on and around reservations, both Native and non-Native, as the educational outcomes, fortunes and populations of many tribes flourish. There are more teachers, doctors, nurses, police, federal workers, etc. Also, more and more tribal citizens are lifting themselves up out of poverty, and able to afford spending a few dollars on something other than the basics. Maybe they want to go out for pizza or see a movie, but these amenities may not often found on the reservation or near tribal housing developments. There is also a growing need by "over income" folks struggling to find housing when the bulk of housing is geared towards the low to moderate income households. The unintended outcome is too often people travel wide distances to larger nearby cities to spend money and time, effectively blocking the ability of tribes to recycle/keep dollars in their own communities, which is vital to thriving social and financial systems.

I believe quality, efficient, healthy housing is foundational to thriving economies and educational outcomes. If families, and/or employees of the tribe or the federal agencies working with tribes cannot readily find housing that's safe, clean, affordable, durable, and not in short supply, this can cripple desired outcomes, whether it be for your government, your casino, your health clinic, even your college. When it comes to funding these housing developments, the housing authority is often the biggest player on the reservation able to access HUD funding. For a long time, housing authorities focused on the quantity, not quality, of houses they would be able to build within a budget. However, to move past this idea of "poor people housing" only, we must consider expanding mindsets about who is being served, as well as the quality of homes and supportive facilities, with the longer view being towards building up more options for an entire Nation and its allies so everyone can feel taken care of, regardless of income, ability, or life's circumstances.

I experienced some of this when working with Osage Nation Housing Department on the Sky Lodge Estates. The first-cost for the homes was about $20,000 more per home than the bare minimum housing design typically used for Indian Housing units. With that up front investment, the Osage Nation was able to incorporate more energy efficient systems and equipment, as well as safe rooms for tornadoes in each unit, all while keeping the houses affordable for both renters and homebuyers. Both the EPA's Energy Star and Indoor AirPLUS standards were followed and met. The best part perhaps is that these homes are highly efficient, and that the savings on utilities bills is passed on to those living there longer term. No one should carry the stress that comes from worrying about whether to keep the lights on, the HVAC running, or pay for groceries. These types of designs and forward-thinking of investing more early on to reap the benefits longer term is important as we look ahead to global population growth, supply chain disruptions, and the impacts of future climate change, which look to be very costly.

So where do we go from here? The story is far from over. There are exciting horizons for Housing & Community Development opening up inside the next 30 years. I see opportunities for mixed-income, mixed-use communities carefully planned in tandem with economic development initiatives that promote and celebrate family health & happiness, employee retention, intergenerational wealth, and climate resilience. I see the resurgence and reclamation of language and culture driving the physical environments designed and built for future generations. And I see that it is all very, very possible - perhaps with a little help from planning, design, and grant-writing friends. Hopefully if we can collectively push towards this brighter horizon, the spirits of trailblazers like Johnson Holy Rock will be smiling down in approval when that bears fruit in the years to come.

As a Founder and Design Professional, I am humbled and excited each day we wake up and continue the path ahead that has been illuminated for us.?Subscribe to the?De la?Luz?| Of the Light?newsletter?for more updates and insights on topics related to cultural influences in design, community building, issues related to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI), and lessons learned from a road less traveled at the nexus of nature, art, spirituality, and architecture. To learn more about what I am up to, please follow De La Luz | Of The Light on LinkedIn.