December 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 33

the last 200 years we got off track. But, if
we did it before, we can do it again. "
Remembering also means remembering what it means to be indigenous. Indigenous systems of design and engineering
are deeply place- and relationship-based.
Indigenous peoples are faced with the
challenge of maintaining and strengthening land tenure, health and nationhood,
while providing creative and innovative
development opportunities for their people. This work is being done in spite of
the legacy of physical, socio-cultural and
economic colonization - a testimony to
the resilience of native peoples.
Working with Native Communities
Many grassroots organizations and community groups throughout native communities have been working to create
innovative pathways that cultivate the
resilience of native nations. In alignment
with this work, BSI and its partners use
a community-directed, culturally based
indigenous design approach that is
grounded in indigenous culture, the relationship of people to their homeland,
their relationship with each other, and
standard design techniques and tools.
This approach can be applied to infrastructure, architecture, landscape design
and whole-systems community design.
The foundation of this design approach
is intimate observation and relationship
building with the local ecology, including
the human social and cultural relationships
that are part of that ecology. Examples of
ecological design include working with native wetland ecology to purify wastewater
while cultivating wildlife habitat, creating community layouts that integrate and
enhance the ecological and social health
of the beings that inhabit the region, and
designing homes and buildings that are responsive to the local climate to enable efficient heating, cooling and lighting, while
utilizing locally sourced, nontoxic and natural building materials. Indigenous ecolog-

ical design adds to this by using culturally
founded observation and learning practices, and the unique cultural values and cosmology of the people as the foundation of
design, in combination with scientific data.
Indigenous nations are socially diverse.
In order to pursue strong, unified, nation-building development pathways, it is
critical to engage with and be guided by
all sectors of society, whether they actively maintain traditional practices or not.
To succeed requires openness and a willingness to do the hard, time-consuming
work of building trust, communication
and participation.
It is also critical to come with an understanding of the history of attempted
cultural annihilation through missionaries, boarding schools and other programs
undertaken within indigenous nations.
This past has a powerful legacy. The violent oppression of native peoples and
traditions has left a mark within indigenous societies that must be addressed to
support resilient design. Further, development and infrastructure within indigenous territories has been largely externally imposed through negotiations with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Housing and
Urban Development, corporations and
private contractors. This legacy of colonization can be seen in responses of fear,
hesitancy and skepticism that are common from indigenous peoples who are
asked to share their visions for the future.
It is challenging for people who have been
told for generations that their knowledge
and practices are lesser and primitive to be
asked to participate in practices for contemporary development.
In order to transcend this discomfort,
design visioning sessions should be organized and led by local people with known
integrity, and be guided by spiritual leaders. If direct, consistent involvement by
well-respected spiritual leaders is not a
possibility, avenues should be created
to ensure their input and involvement at

key decision-making points.
BSI has found that hosting open, facilitated meetings, organized with wide outreach, can be an effective practice to facilitate a unified perspective among diverse
groups. These meetings can begin with
prayer to create openness and clarify the
intent of the process and should also involve multiple roundtable discussions with
community members and the design team.
Key questions identified by BSI include:
* What values inform your [native nations'] identity?
* How do these values inform your visions of the [project, program, development]?
* How can this [project, program, development] support and put into action
these visions and values?
These questions and format can effectively open dialogue to find a unifying
foundation and develop strategies of how
to learn together.
Takeaways
For developers, planners and design communities that seek to take the indigenous
approach in a genuine and meaningful
way, the task before them is not small.
There can be a real shift in worldview required. Much of the work lies in simply
entering into projects from a place of real
respect, realizing that many of the answers
are within the community and that, indeed, you can't unlock the answers solely
from without. The skillsets of the planning
community, valuing deep stakeholder engagement, can be helpful in this way. Also
helpful is drawing on the traditions embedded within virtually all cultures, including
those of the design team: Elder respect,
generosity, hospitality and gratitude.
Dr. PennElys Droz is Executive Director of
Sustainable Nations (pennelys@
sustainablenations.org). David Jaber is a Director
at Blue Star Integrative Studio (davidj@bsi.studio).
Scott Moore y Medina is Principal Architect at
Blue Star Integrative Studio (scottmm@bsi.studio).

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December 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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