Designing for tribal communities with Tammy Eagle Bull, FAIA

Tammy Eagle Bull, FAIA, wants her work to positively impact the well-being and self esteem of indigenous people.

A member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Eagle Bull understands the nuances of designing for native communities. "Tribal 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," she said.

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.

What inspired you to become an architect?

My parents both grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. They raised their family in Aberdeen which is in the northeast corner of the state, so while I grew up off the reservation, we spent a lot of time with our family in Porcupine and Pine Ridge.

Growing up I recall being conscious of the obvious differences between where I lived, went to school and shopped in Aberdeen and what was available in Pine Ridge. In asking my dad about this, he started to explain things in terms of the built environment – why houses looked different, why the schools were old, why there were so few stores.

When my dad and his brother were in high school, his father who was a tribal leader told them that one day the tribe would be in a position to better their circumstances. When this happened, there would be a need for lawyers and architects. My dad became interested in architecture. He expressed this to his high school counselor, seeking a path to be an architect. The counselor, a non-native, told him that he could not be an architect and that the best he could be was a teacher.

Putting aside his dreams to be an architect, my dad pursued a teaching degree. He had a long career in tribal education, eventually rising to the top position in the Midwest. He taught and helped many indigenous students pursue higher education and their dreams. But he always regretted listening to that counselor. So when he saw I had an interest in drawing, he encouraged me. He showed me that as an architect, I could have a positive influence on not just the built environment but on how people would feel about themselves.

Who were some of your biggest role models and mentors when growing up and when starting your career?

Growing up my dad was my biggest role model. At the time I didn’t really understand his job, I just knew he worked helping native students get into college. After I started working with tribal communities someone would come up to me and tell me how much my dad influenced them at nearly every meeting I attended. He was either their teacher in high school who inspired them or he helped them get into college and get funding for college. It was inspiring that he quietly and modestly influenced so many native youths who later became our tribal leaders.

Why is it so important for you to work with Native American tribes? Can you describe some notable projects you’re proud of and how they’ve directly impacted Native communities.

Native American communities have been largely forgotten in terms of the quality and appropriateness of their built environment post colonization. Traditionally our communities and structures directly related to who we were as people and our lifestyles and culture. You could tell so much from just looking at the homes whether it was a tipi or a lodge or wigwam. It was obvious that there was a unique culture inhabiting that land.

Now, tribal communities all look similar in that they are aged, run down and have very little architectural style or concern. The housing in tribal communities across the nation all appear interchangeable as there is very little cultural context allowed. Since most building projects are funded by the federal government, there are strict design guidelines that need to be followed whether it’s a school or housing or correction facility. There is a deliberate allowance for cultural integration or design of any spaces which support the culture. There is a big disconnect between tribal architecture and people and place.

The built environment has a big impact on our well-being and self-esteem. It affects the indigenous youth when they are going to school and living in decrepit facilities. They see the schools and homes in the neighboring non-reservation towns. I believe that quality architecture that is contextually and culturally relevant does not need to cost more. It should be available to all communities and is most needed in tribal communities.

Tribal communities have been striving for sovereignty in all other aspects of life – governance, law enforcement, health care, education and housing. Tribal 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.

One of our projects that I am very proud of is the Pahin Sinte Owayawa (Porcupine School) in Porcupine, South Dakota. This is the community where my mom grew up and where my parents settled when they retired. Most of my extended family lives in this community. We were commissioned to design a new K-8 school in 2005 and worked very closely with the school administration, school board, teachers, staff, parents and most importantly the students.

The exterior of Pahin Sinte Owayawa

The main idea for the school came from a workshop with the students. They expressed that the school was their safe place to come each day. Given the social conditions and situations that exist in this community, many of the students did not have safe or secure home lives. Coming to school was their refuge and might be where they got their hot meals for the day or where they had a kind adult or warm place. This is vastly different from how non-reservation students think about school.

So we designed the school to be a “home”, a home based on their idealized version of home. The progression into their Waunspe Tipi (Learning House) is how they described going to their ideal home. At the heart of the Waunspe Tipi is a gathering space (family room) for the tiyospaye (family). The 3 grades that share the tipi gather in this space at the start and end of each day.

After the school had been opened for several years, I took a film crew there for a documentary. The students who we worked with had aged out of the school so the new students were new to me. However, I was so surprised to hear them explaining the main concepts of the school to the film crew. The design ideas and concepts had become part of the institutional knowledge of the school. It made me proud to know that the community had fully embraced the school as their own and their design.

The gathering space of the learning house at Pahin Sinte Owayawa.

What advice do you have for young people from Native communities who may be looking to become architects?

To just do it. I’m trying to take away the mystique of being an architect. It’s achievable and doable. It’s not a dream, it’s a goal. Sure it’s hard work, but anything worthwhile is hard work. As native children we are often taught that we should look for a way to help our tribe. If it wasn’t for my dad, I would not have thought that being an architect was a way to help people.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the architecture profession right now?

In terms of what I see in my specialty of Indigenous Architecture, the challenge is lack of Indigenous architects.

While there are more native students in the architectural pipeline now than ever before, it will be years and years until we have the capacity to do all the necessary work in Indian Country. With this reality, it is necessary for non-indigenous architects to fulfill the gap.

The challenge is a lack of cultural awareness and situational reciprocity by architects. Spending the necessary time and effort to achieve a meaningful exchange of ideas is often outside an architects typical design process. The resulting attempt at cultural design ends up being superficial or decorative. As architects we are trained to be problem solvers and to treat projects as our own creations.

Designing architecture that speaks to cultural identity requires architects to put aside our egos and listen. Tribal communities are the experts in their culture, their community, their needs, their history and most importantly their identity.  

Why do you think diversity is especially important in the field of architecture?

Architecture should reflect the society in which it exists. Our society is not homogeneous – it is diverse and multi-cultural. Designing architecture to reflect a diverse community should be done by diverse architects who understand the unique aspects of culture and the importance of self-imposed identity. For too long diverse people have been subject to imposed identities whether its media portrayals, stereotypes or architecture.