Northern Cheyenne: Long-term housing strategy

In a population of 4000, nearly 1000 Northern Cheyenne individuals await housing that is simply not available. It is common for multiple families-in many cases more than ten individuals, sometimes twenty-to live in deteriorated, unhealthy 2-bedroom HUD homes intended for a single family. In the extreme climate of eastern Montana, heating and cooling expenses in poorly built and under-insulated homes cost low-income families precious dollars.

The American Indian Sustainable Housing Initiative's first long-term phased housing commitment with the Northern Cheyenne drew Red Feather's attention to the community of Busby (White River), Montana. With strong community interest in sustainable construction - specifically how straw bale homes can be a viable solution to the housing and community development needs of Busby - Red Feather has begun the process of training and empowering tribal members to build. Red Feather identified a small number of families interested in straw bale housing and embarked upon straw bale home construction in June 2006 with the Roundstone family - leaders within the small community. We hope to get the whole community behind this effort and are working steadily to identify mortgage-ready individuals and families wanting to build in the spring of 2007. We are also seeking at least two Northern Cheyenne individuals wishing to participate in the second year of the Indigenous Builders' Exchange/Fellowships with the Hopi in September 2007.

Red Feather recognizes that in order to successfully transfer progressive construction skills to individuals, the home building process must be repeated over time. Individual tribal members must take part in a series of building projects to learn the more complicated aspects of constructing with straw bale and to understand the organizational logistics that a tribally-run housing organization would require. Thus, Red Feather created the Indigenous Builders' Exchange that introduces tribal members to the straw bale process and then reiterates that process for those who participate in both the Hopi and Northern Cheyenne builds.

As with any Red Feather project, the ultimate goal is empowering individuals to make a difference. Building homes is one way to do that. Through self-sufficient and healthy individuals, families are strengthened and communities improved. As others see the effects of long-term commitment and focused, strategic community improvement in Busby, we hope the American Indian Sustainable Housing Initiative will take root within neighboring communities, whereby tribal members can begin to strengthen their own communities through tse-vesta hase, the Northern Cheyenne way of saying "people helping people."

Hopi Nation: Long-term housing strategy

In September 2006, Red Feather completed the Shebola Family Home with loads of community help from the village of Bacavi and tribal members from across Third Mesa. With so much local enthusiasm present at the build, Red Feather staff is now hard at work contacting individuals interested in homeownership and in learning the straw bale process. Last year, Red Feather completed the long-awaited construction of Hopi tribal elder Mary's straw bale home. A part of Red Feather's Elder Housing Initiative, Mary's home was the first Hopi straw bale home-a replicable model from which other tribal members can learn. The need for housing within the Hopi Reservation is apparent. Red Feather offers one solution to alleviate that situation through the spreading the spirit of volunteerism and the Hopi concept of na'ya. With Mary's home on the ground, we were able to begin the task of introducing straw bale homes to more tribal members as a viable solution to their acute need for quality affordable housing: this resulted in the September 2006 project with the Shebola family of Bacavi.

Very self-sufficient on the whole, the Hopi people of Third Mesa (includes Hotevilla, Bacavi, and Kykotsmovi) have welcomed Red Feather and are working with us to identify organizations and individuals who wish to move forward and initiate tribally-run organizations. September's build with the Shebola family of Bacavi was by far the most successful project of all Red Feather projects to date. The Community Service Administrators of Bacavi and Kykotsmovi were instrumental in getting this project off the ground and in spreading the word so that more tribal members took part in the construction of this home than any other project to date. Having identified several engaged, pro-active, enthusiastic tribal members, Red Feather's next step is to identify suitable organizations that can implement on-the-ground work that nurtures local motivation to build homes.

Indigenous Builders' Exchange

Red Feather's two major focuses, as highlighted above, are home-building and education. This year, The Indigenous Builders' Exchange (IBE) introduced individuals to the construction process and encouraged local involvement. We seek motivated participants from within reservation communities who not only wish to learn the skills of building with straw bales and sustainable technologies, but that are firmly invested in their communities and who wish to work within those communities on housing-related issues. Introduced as a pilot program in 2006, the IBE is currently being developed and improved after its initial run. Having a larger pool from which to choose participants as well as creating a more direct mentorship program are two aspects of the Exchange we are diligently working to improve. Additionally, we are considering the cultural exchange elements and the importance of this aspect of the program from the tribal participant's points of view. The IBE represents just one of the ways Red Feather works to empower individuals and to successfully transfer straw bale construction skills to tribal members who we hope will eventually lead builds of their own.

Strategic Planning

When Red Feather began in 1995, the objective was to build one home for a Lakota elder. In following years, the organization continued its objective of housing - family by family.

Based on its early experiences, the leadership at Red Feather recently concluded that the best course of action for the organization is to focus its efforts on the two reservations mentioned above - Northern Cheyenne and Hopi. Approaching housing at a community level requires new approaches that Red Feather is currently in the process of refining.

With Red Feather's devoted staff, we are poised and asking the same questions that are being asked of us. How does an organization located off-reservation operate sustainably? Do we succumb to insistent pressure to simply build more homes? Do we continue on our path to educate and empower? We firmly believe that the only way that tribes will be better off in the long-run is if they are doing this work themselves. That is why we continue on this slow and steady path that requires both educational and construction-oriented resources to address our two-fold mission: empowerment and home building. Empowerment in this context means supporting tribal members, who do not yet have the resources to operate sustainable home construction organizations in their communities, until they can do this work on their own. Lastly, we realize the extent of our organization's benefit to our non-native volunteers that offer their sweat equity to each home, or who join us to learn about straw bale construction, or to learn about native cultures within the reservation.

With these trajectories in mind, Red Feather has begun the lengthy process of strategic planning which will culminate in our February 2007 board retreat devoted to clarifying our mission and vision, identifying our trajectory, and creating objectives, benchmarks and achievable outcomes in line with our vision/mission. While challenging and usually rather untidy, creation of a three-to-five year strategic plan is critical to ensuring Red Feather's ability to successfully respond to changes in circumstances including people, resources and the environment that we, as an organization and as individuals, will inevitably face. A pre-requisite of this process is a willingness to question the status quo and to look at new approaches to performing and evaluating Red Feather's "business." It focuses on evolution and relevance in changing times. We invite tribal members, volunteers, current or future stakeholders, and community members to participate as we create a plan that will assist us in upcoming years as we plunge deeper into our commitments to the Northern Cheyenne and Hopi nations.