6 Safe, Eco-Friendly Homes for Pine Ridge Lakota

Nobody said that building housing at Wounded Knee would be easy. But, by golly, the spirit is willing.

In early May, Christinia took a group of enthusiastic Engineers Without Borders student from Colorado State University to the site, along with supplies to build a battery house for the new solar power system that has been donated. Only to find that the building site had been pillaged. Approximately $7,000 worth of equipment had been stolen: our kitchen/supply tent, our trailer to haul things, even Christinia's project car(!) -- all gone. On top of that, the head gasket in the project truck blew. Then the rains came down and Christinia's other car got stuck in the mud and blew out the clutch. Time to re-group.

We're still short of money to fix the truck, but Bryan Deans of the Oglala Lakota Cultural Economic Revitalization Initiative rescued the car and has provided an alternative project for this summer's international volunteers. They are building a ‘walipini’ (an Aymara Indian word for a “place of warmth”) -- an underground greenhouse that can grow veggies through the bitter Dakota winters. When you dig down four feet, the temperature stays more constant.  A glass lean-to captures and stores the daytime heat. It is built similarly to an earthship house, using tires in the foundation.  Bryan has adapted several styles to create an original design for this greenhouse. We'd like to use Brian's design and include a walipini every place we build, not only to grow organic food, but also as a tornado shelter should the need arise.

But for this summer, starting over as we had to, we need to raise $1000 for materials for the walipini. And your continuing support is critical as we get the Fast Horse child sanctuary back on track for next year.