Traditional Housing Solutions for the Navajo Nation

Abstract

This capstone research examined to assess and explores the housing issues indigenous communities face to come up with solutions on how to meet their housing needs when it comes to designing a traditional home. Many Indigenous communities’ houses are very substandard as it can be very overcrowded, system deficiencies, or certain condition within the household. Not to mention the Navajo Nation being a large reservation as the demographic contributes to why it is difficult to have a comfortable income as their lack of jobs in the community, poverty, and no funding from government. When these causes happen, it leads to Indigenous families to not have a quality house and create more stress on families. To fix these issues, this research used literature review, secondary data from pilot study survey, storytelling (interview) and document analysis. The discussions and conclusions allowed to develop a Housing Inspection Deficiency Checklist and Traditional Housing solution diagram as toolkit for the Indigenous people. As well as the potential of what sustainable traditional housing can be on the Navajo Nation.