Designing for tribal communities with Tammy Eagle Bull, FAIA

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[["images-card",{"images":[{"url":"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dpcbzfiye\/image\/upload\/v1699018830\/vrjrgmqoy6i7yg3bjfig.jpg","id":"6686906"}],"caption":"The exterior of Pahin Sinte Owayawa"}],["images-card",{"images":[{"url":"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dpcbzfiye\/image\/upload\/v1699018892\/wtpfajsqmscszwdf15t1.jpg","id":"6686907"}],"caption":"The gathering space of the learning house at Pahin Sinte Owayawa."}]],"markups":[["strong"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Tammy Eagle Bull, FAIA, wants her work to positively impact the well-being and self esteem of indigenous people. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"A member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Eagle Bull understands the nuances of designing for native communities. \u0022Tribal communities need to have agency in their built environment. They deserve a real voice in the design of their schools, homes, workplaces and community buildings,\u0022 she said. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"For Native American Heritage month, AIA spoke with the President of Encompass Architects in Lincoln Nebraska about destigmatizing the profession for indigenous youth, designing for tribal communities, deriving inspiration from her father, and much more. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"What inspired you to become an architect?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"My parents both grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South\nDakota. They raised their family in Aberdeen which is in the northeast corner\nof the state, so while I grew up off the reservation, we spent a lot of time\nwith our family in Porcupine and Pine Ridge. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Growing up I recall being conscious of the obvious differences between where\nI lived, went to school and shopped in Aberdeen and what was available in Pine\nRidge. In asking my dad about this, he started to explain things in terms of\nthe built environment \u2013 why houses looked different, why the schools were old,\nwhy there were so few stores. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"When my dad and his brother were in high school, his father who was a tribal\nleader told them that one day the tribe would be in a position to better their\ncircumstances. When this happened, there would be a need for lawyers and\narchitects. My dad became interested in architecture. He expressed this to his\nhigh school counselor, seeking a path to be an architect. The counselor, a\nnon-native, told him that he could not be an architect and that the best he\ncould be was a teacher."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Putting aside his dreams to be an architect, my dad pursued a teaching\ndegree. He had a long career in tribal education, eventually rising to the top\nposition in the Midwest. He taught and helped many indigenous students pursue\nhigher education and their dreams. But he always regretted listening to that\ncounselor. So when he saw I had an interest in drawing, he encouraged me. He\nshowed me that as an architect, I could have a positive influence on not just\nthe built environment but on how people would feel about themselves. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Who were some of your biggest role models and mentors when growing\nup and when starting your career?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Growing up my dad was my biggest role model. At the time I didn\u2019t really\nunderstand his job, I just knew he worked helping native students get into\ncollege. After I started working with tribal communities someone would come up\nto me and tell me how much my dad influenced them at nearly every meeting I\nattended. He was either their teacher in high school who inspired them or he helped\nthem get into college and get funding for college. It was inspiring that he\nquietly and modestly influenced so many native youths who later became our\ntribal leaders. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Why is it so important for you to work with Native American tribes?\nCan you describe some notable projects you\u2019re proud of and how they\u2019ve directly\nimpacted Native communities."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Native American communities have been largely forgotten in terms of the\nquality and appropriateness of their built environment post colonization.\nTraditionally our communities and structures directly related to who we were as\npeople and our lifestyles and culture. You could tell so much from just looking\nat the homes whether it was a tipi or a lodge or wigwam. It was obvious that\nthere was a unique culture inhabiting that land. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Now, tribal communities all look similar in that they are aged, run down and\nhave very little architectural style or concern. The housing in tribal\ncommunities across the nation all appear interchangeable as there is very\nlittle cultural context allowed. Since most building projects are funded by the\nfederal government, there are strict design guidelines that need to be followed\nwhether it\u2019s a school or housing or correction facility. There is a deliberate\nallowance for cultural integration or design of any spaces which support the\nculture. There is a big disconnect between tribal architecture and people and\nplace."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The built environment has a big impact on our well-being and self-esteem. It\naffects the indigenous youth when they are going to school and living in\ndecrepit facilities. They see the schools and homes in the neighboring\nnon-reservation towns. I believe that quality architecture that is contextually\nand culturally relevant does not need to cost more. It should be available to\nall communities and is most needed in tribal communities."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Tribal communities have been striving for sovereignty in all other aspects\nof life \u2013 governance, law enforcement, health care, education and housing.\nTribal communities need to have agency in their built environment. They deserve\na real voice in the design of their schools, homes, workplaces and community\nbuildings. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"One of our projects that I am very proud of is the Pahin Sinte Owayawa\n(Porcupine School) in Porcupine, South Dakota. This is the community where my\nmom grew up and where my parents settled when they retired. Most of my extended\nfamily lives in this community. We were commissioned to design a new K-8 school\nin 2005 and worked very closely with the school administration, school board,\nteachers, staff, parents and most importantly the students."]]],[10,0],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The main idea for the school came from a workshop with the students. They\nexpressed that the school was their safe place to come each day. Given the\nsocial conditions and situations that exist in this community, many of the\nstudents did not have safe or secure home lives. Coming to school was their\nrefuge and might be where they got their hot meals for the day or where they\nhad a kind adult or warm place. This is vastly different from how\nnon-reservation students think about school. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"So we designed the school to be a \u201chome\u201d, a home based on their idealized\nversion of home. The progression into their Waunspe Tipi (Learning House) is\nhow they described going to their ideal home. At the heart of the Waunspe Tipi\nis a gathering space (family room) for the tiyospaye (family). The 3 grades\nthat share the tipi gather in this space at the start and end of each day. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"After the school had been opened for several years, I took a film crew there\nfor a documentary. The students who we worked with had aged out of the school\nso the new students were new to me. However, I was so surprised to hear them\nexplaining the main concepts of the school to the film crew. The design ideas\nand concepts had become part of the institutional knowledge of the school. It\nmade me proud to know that the community had fully embraced the school as their\nown and their design."]]],[10,1],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"What advice do you have for young people from Native communities who\nmay be looking to become architects?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"To just do it. I\u2019m trying to take away the mystique of being an architect.\nIt\u2019s achievable and doable. It\u2019s not a dream, it\u2019s a goal. Sure it\u2019s hard work,\nbut anything worthwhile is hard work. As native children we are often taught\nthat we should look for a way to help our tribe. If it wasn\u2019t for my dad, I\nwould not have thought that being an architect was a way to help people. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"What are some of the biggest challenges facing the architecture\nprofession right now?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In terms of what I see in my specialty of Indigenous Architecture, the\nchallenge is lack of Indigenous architects. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"While there are more native students in the architectural pipeline now than\never before, it will be years and years until we have the capacity to do all\nthe necessary work in Indian Country. With this reality, it is necessary for\nnon-indigenous architects to fulfill the gap."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The challenge is a lack of cultural awareness and situational reciprocity by\narchitects. Spending the necessary time and effort to achieve a meaningful\nexchange of ideas is often outside an architects typical design process. The\nresulting attempt at cultural design ends up being superficial or decorative.\nAs architects we are trained to be problem solvers and to treat projects as our\nown creations."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Designing architecture that speaks to cultural identity requires architects\nto put aside our egos and listen. Tribal communities are the experts in their\nculture, their community, their needs, their history and most importantly their\nidentity. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"Why do you think diversity is especially important in the field of\narchitecture?"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Architecture should reflect the society in which it exists. Our society is\nnot homogeneous \u2013 it is diverse and multi-cultural. Designing architecture to\nreflect a diverse community should be done by diverse architects who understand\nthe unique aspects of culture and the importance of self-imposed identity. For\ntoo long diverse people have been subject to imposed identities whether its\nmedia portrayals, stereotypes or architecture. "]]]]}