Solar Energy Initiative

As an organization, Red Feather is continually looking for solutions and designs that are environmentally, culturally, and economically sustainable. By collaborating with communities to determine the direction of our program, we hope to foster a cooperative method of learning between one another.

One lesson that we have learned from our work - especially from the numerous families in Hotevilla, Arizona on the Hopi Reservation - is the importance of solar technologies in Indian Country. While we have always appreciated the environmental advantages of directly harnessing the sun’s power and the long-term economic benefits of certain alternative technologies for quite some time, we are furthering our understanding of the independence that these systems offer families.

Both of the communities that we serve are under direct pressure for coal development. The Hopi recently pressured Peabody Coal to shut down their Black Mesa operations. This stopped the coal slurry to Laughlin, Nevada that required the extraction of water from the aquifer serving the Hopi and Navajo Nations. While the Hopi now have more control over how their water is used, they face economic pressure due to the loss of income from Peabody’s operations. At Northern Cheyenne, tribal members recently voted to open their reservation to coal mining while simultaneously voting down a measure to restrict coal bed methane development. Due to the poor economic conditions in each of these areas, the pressure to utilize coal reserves is high. Each community is looking to alternative energy production as a possible solution.

When considering the majority of energy provided to the homes we build is produced by non-renewable coal sources and distributed by utility companies that have historically underserved the communities we assist, it only makes sense that we make the effort to incorporate alternatives into our construction projects.  Red Feather staff and our Hopi partners are currently developing educational materials on solar energy for tribal members as well as a series of presentations on the reservations about sustainable homes and the benefits of renewable energy.