BOULDER, Colo.—The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is one of the poorest pockets of the country, with unemployment above 80 percent.
Many of the homes on the reservation have problems like those in developing nations. They lack electricity and sewage systems, are plagued with mold, and aren’t designed to house extended families.
The South Dakota reservation that is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe is facing a tremendous housing crisis, and a University of Colorado instructor and his architecture students want to help.
The students in Rob Pyatt’s “Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative” are traveling to South Dakota to start designing housing for the reservation. It’s Pyatt’s 20th trip to the reservation and the students’ first.
“I thought this was a great opportunity to get hands-on experience to go build what our group designed,” said CU student Nick McClure. “An added-on bonus is that we get to help these people who are really in need.”
The CU students will be partnering with students at Oglala Lakota College who are studying construction technology. Together, they’ll design and build energy-efficient homes that are affordable and meet the cultural needs of those on the reservation.
“For Pine Ridge, the housing crisis is real,” Pyatt said. “It’s significant, and it definitely needs to be remedied.”
The initial homes will be built on the Oglala Lakota College campus and be used to house faculty members. Those involved with the project will be able to track sustainability efforts, such as energy use.
Doug Noyes, director of the Construction Technologies Program at the college, said in a news release that the overall objective of the project is develop a strong case study to help inform the future housing choices of the tribe and set up guidelines for sustainable construction on the reservation.
CU students in the program are experiencing the integrated curriculum of three courses: an advanced materials workshop that teaches about sustainable building; critical issues in Native North America taught by indigenous studies scholar Doreen Martinez; and an architecture design studio.
Peter Simons, director of CU’s Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement, said Pyatt’s course and the partnership between the two schools fits into CU’s broader goals to merge academics and service, calling it an “excellent example of quality service learning.”
The Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative is collaborating with the Oyate Omnicye Regional Planning Project and the Thunder Valley Community Development Corp., a Lakota nonprofit organization working to create sustainable development on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
