
In a nation where traditional financial systems serve as the gatekeepers of development, Native America has long faced systemic barriers that hinder wealth generation and the identities of our communities. Despite financial complexities, Native communities have creatively leveraged design to employ innovative methods to utilize federal, private, and philanthropic funds to create sustainable communities. This ingenuity, driven by necessity rather than privilege, offers valuable lessons for inclusive growth.
Policy Opportunity Moment
We are at a pivotal historical juncture, with President Biden's Justice40 Initiative and the Inflation Reduction Act setting the stage. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion initiative, is designed to change how we address climate change by promoting the shift to renewable energy and addressing inequities in under-resourced communities, including Tribal lands. It’s crucial for architects and the larger design community to engage in this transformative endeavor, ensuring developments respect and uplift communities and cultures. Our involvement is necessary to ensure that reinvestment in our under-resourced communities, cultures, and lands unfolds in a respectful and equitable way.
The Impact of NAHASDA
The Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) of 1996 significantly empowered Federally Recognized Tribes, marking a departure from restrictive oversight from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which often disregarded cultural and climatic considerations. Over 28 years, many of these Tribal communities have harnessed this authority to blend traditional knowledge and modern building technologies to design new housing and community models. As a graduate student, I researched the impact of NAHASDA within my own community, the Northern Cheyenne Nation, gaining first-hand insight into its empowering and challenging aspects. I learned that while the act empowered Tribes to assert control over housing and community development, it also underscored the financial constraints and personal capacity faced by many.
My journey from an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow with the Santo Domingo Housing Authority and later as the Executive Director of the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative to leading MASS Design Group’s Santa Fe Office as a Principal and Director of its Sustainable Native Communities Lab, deepened my understanding of the challenges and opportunities in Tribal development. The creativity and ingenuity of our Tribal partners constantly inspires me. Working closely alongside Indigenous partners, we ensure the built environment reflects and honors the histories, the stories, and the people. This starts with listening to the community to better understand the needs from their perspectives. Together, we work to identify opportunities with Native partners to effectively navigate the intricacies between the design and financial terrain to arrive at a sustainable, culturally relevant, and beautiful solution.
Learning from Native America
Indian Country has continuously demonstrated how innovative financing and culturally responsive design can lead to more equitable and sustainable community development. The imperative to design functional spaces that reflect Indigenous values calls for a deep understanding of culturally responsive design. Projects like Wa-Di Housing Development, Caddo Nation Childcare Center, and Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes showcase how blending Indigenous principles with philanthropy and creative financing to advance culturally responsive development, land ownership, and sustainable investments in Tribal and rural communities can result in equitable and impactful models for future initiatives.
Wa-Di Housing Project

The Wa-Di Housing Project, developed by the Santo Domingo Tribal Housing Authority on the Kewa Pueblo in collaboration with AOS Santa Fe, exemplifies how design and creative financing can merge to create affordable and culturally responsive housing. The 41-unit affordable housing project, located at a major commuter rail station between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM, exemplifies an inclusive land planning process that integrates a Kewa perspective of Indigenous urban design principles, such as walkable communities, shared public spaces, trail infrastructure, and solar orientation. As a first-of-its-kind rural transit-oriented development, it balances housing density with open space preservation, integrating artist housing to foster a local creative economy alongside cultural preservation. Sustainable features like passive solar design respect traditional building practices while addressing modern environmental needs. Despite the complexities of adhering to multiple funding standards, including NAHASDA, Indian Housing Block Grant, and Indian Community Development Block Grant funds, the community's resilience and innovative approaches demonstrate how determined community members can make federal programs work for them.
Caddo Nation Child Care Center

In Hinton, Okla., the Caddo Nation Childcare Center embodies cultural preservation, community empowerment, and economic self-determination. Supporting 90 children and their families from across the Caddo Nation, the center focuses on nurturing future leaders while addressing the urgent need for critical childcare infrastructure within the region. Integrating Caddo-specific materials, motifs, and artists, the center fosters a sense of identity and belonging among children, families, and elders. The design integrates spaces such as teaching gardens, indoor-outdoor learning environments, areas for elders and children to interact, a tornado shelter, and an aquatic center, all prioritizing health, safety, sustainability, and cultural-specificity.
Under the leadership of Chairman Bobby Gonzalez, the Tribe strategically leveraged Federal and State funding to establish a Tribal-owned construction company, creating Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. In addition to designing the childcare center, MASS provided design and planning services to support the Caddo Nation's Resiliency Plan, which includes the planning for housing, facilities, green infrastructure, and land use. The project enhances the Tribe's capacity, resources, and self-determination, showcasing how federal funds can be leveraged to develop culturally responsive, economically sustainable designs and strengthen a Tribe's economy as part of a comprehensive Tribal resiliency plan.
Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes

The Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes in Presidio, Texas, is a spatial reclamation of an Indigenous burial ground to facilitate its protection and interpretation, healing and gathering, and land back (reclamation of unceded Native lands) over time. Located in the middle of the Presidio community, the three-thousand year-old mound holds the graves of hundreds of Indigenous ancestors, including Lipan Apaches. Following years of desecration, urban development, and vandalism, the Lipan Apache Tribe successfully negotiated for the return of the cemetery, now a tenth of its original size, in 2021. The transfer of land ownership from Texas back to the Tribe stands as a testament to the power of community advocacy and policy change supporting Indigenous sovereignty.
The role of design in preserving the history and this sacred space was crucial in the land back process. In partnership with the Tribe, the Big Bend Conservation Alliance, and with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, our team developed a community-informed design centering segmented gabion modules that can replicate outwards over time. This strategy provides a culturally-sensitive enclosure that protects the site and mitigates erosion, connects to the sentinel stone markers that top graves, guides travel through the site, and eliminates the need for invasive foundations, providing an alternative to standard construction that removes the language of violence to the land — a ground-making rather than groundbreaking.
Moving Forward
The initiatives highlighted here underscore the transformative potential of integrating creative financing with culturally responsive design in Indigenous community development. By learning from Native America, we can address historical injustices and seize opportunities for change, nurturing inclusive growth while acknowledging Indigenous heritage and sovereignty.
Our work serves as a call-to-action within the architectural profession, illustrating the transformative power of design in shaping a more just and sustainable future. Aligning with emerging federal initiatives offers the design community a scalable model for sustainable development that transcends boundaries, honors Indigenous heritage, and promotes prosperity for all.
The views and conclusions from this author are not necessarily those of ARCHITECT magazine.
Read more about MASS Design Group on: The Power of Public Monuments | The Power of Provenance|The Architect's Philanthopist| Learning from Poughkeepsie| A Guide to Rewilding|Advocating for Disability Justice in Design|AIA Firm of the Year.
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