Samuel Cusack

Communities in the Upper Midwest’s Native American Reservations are dealing with a severe lack of quality affordable housing. Along with this, a high percentage of those lucky enough to own a house remain overburdened by the cost to heat and light these poorly designed buildings. This research looks to the vernacular architecture and variable living patterns of the Native American bands in the region to understand how these issues can be dealt with. This entails a literature review of relevant studies in affordable single unit homes in Native American Communities as well as studies into the historic forms and living patterns of indigenous woodland populations. This study reveals on two scales of design - the scale of the home and the community - how modern affordable housing projects of the late 20th century and 21st century compare to the forms and organizations of vernacular architecture of the area. The study also develops a compilation of principles to determine how future community designs could contend with the outlined issues. Future steps will be taken to determine what material and construction techniques could be drawn from vernacular architecture. Explorations into designing the spaces and communities will also be done in the future based on these findings.