Sioux and Assiniboine tribes of Fort Peck, Montana designing sustainable master plan for entire reservation.
The Make It Right nonprofit founded by Brad Pitt is partnering with the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes of Fort Peck, Montana, to build sustainable homes, buildings and communities on their reservation. In addition to 20 LEED Platinum certified homes, the project will develop a sustainable master plan for the entire reservation, which covers thousands of acres and is home to more than 6,000 Native Americans.
Make It Right was set up in 2007 to provide housing for people in need. All Make It Right projects are LEED Platinum certified, Cradle to Cradle inspired, and designed by renowned architects in collaboration with the community involved. For the current project, architects and designers from GRAFT, Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative, Architecture for Humanity, Method Homes, and Living Homes spent four days meeting with tribal members before developing their designs.
Currently, more than 600 people are waiting for housing on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Overcrowding is a chronic problem, with multiple families commonly living together in two-bedroom homes due to lack of accommodation. The solar-powered homes will have between three and four bedrooms, two to three bathrooms and be available to tribal members whose income levels are at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income.
“As a tribal designer working in Indian Country, I feel we have an obligation to design and build housing that is tied to the culture, community and place of Fort Peck,” says Joseph Kunkel, Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow from the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative. “We’re excited about the potential impact this project may offer the Assiniboine and Sioux community, along with provide a national precedent for Indian Housing nationwide.” Construction on the Montana project begins this year.
