Nothing to something - a sustainable home
By Nick Headley
Pine Ridge, S.D. - Just a few miles west of Pine Ridge on Highway 18 is a construction site for a new house. This is not a typical construction site where you would find trucks, trailers, fork lifts and a crew of burly men pounding in nails from sunrise to sunset. Instead, you find a group of volunteers from around the world seemingly turning “nothing“ into “something.” And that “something,” is a future dream house for one excited family.
Almost three years ago, Shannon Freed of Earth Tipi, was driving just outside of Pine Ridge when she noticed a campsite set up along the highway three miles outside of town. That very campsite was the temporary home of Walter Yellow Foot and his family.
After first coming across the site, Shannon started paying attention to it and watched Walter and his family attempt to build a living structure for themselves. She thought to herself, “Why isn’t anyone helping this guy?” And after seeing that most of their progress had been destroyed by a severe wind storm, she thought, “If no one helps this guy soon, I’ll help this guy.”
Even though Shannon still had not met Walter’s family and didn’t know his name, she began searching for people who may be interested in helping them out. That is when she came across David Reed of Texas Natural Builders, who had previously worked on natural building projects which were similar to those of Earth Tipi.
“I was particularly intrigued by a palette structure he was working on,” Shannon said. She then invited David to come to Pine Ridge to build a similar house for Walter and his family. He agreed to come.
At that time, Shannon still hadn’t even met Walter and his family. However, soon before a final decision on the house, she was given Walter’s phone number and once she made the call, the palette house project had officially begun.
By June 2011, Walter and his family had gathered over 200 unused palettes from around Pine Ridge and construction on his home began. Funded by online donations, David Reed and his partner Graham Robertson were two of the initial builders on the project.
The building of the palette house was set up as an apprenticeship; people from off the reservation could come and learn exactly how to construct one of these houses from start to finish.
“Many different volunteers from all over the world came out here,” Graham said. Volunteers from as far away as France and Australia set up camp alongside Walter and his family and spent weeks at a time working on the house.
By September work on the house had begun to slow down as the cold season started to hit the prairies of South Dakota, but significant progress had already been made. A solid foundation was set with the house entirely enclosed and the walls insulated. Next spring the crews will continue building by installing indoor amenities and electricity will be brought into the house.
A solid frame for the house was constructed with used palettes and other scraps of lumber. Straw and a mixture including soil elements were stuffed into the walls for insulation. According to Graham, the house will potentially be more efficient than many homes that are currently on the reservation.
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The house was built to accommodate the strong ties of Walter’s Family. Even with one large room, including a kitchen and family room, there are still designated spaces in the house that create a special place for the family to spend their time, whether individually or with others.
Along with designing and building the house, David and Graham also constructed an outdoor shade hut soon after they arrived on the site. The hut is a sturdy structure with a soil floor and bench dug a few feet below the surface. The family will be able to escape from the extreme summer temperatures while laying in a hammock or sitting around the table inside the hut.
With the ongoing building process, the palette house has drawn attention from people around the Pine Ridge area. “We’ve had countless people come out here and ask us, ‘how can I get one of these houses,’” Graham said.
Texas Natural Builders has already made plans to build at least six more palette houses on the reservation next year. “I think people are really happy to see that this is actually happening and it’s possible,” Graham said.
As soon as construction is completed and all the crews have left the site, Walter and his companion Alison Goings and their family of eight will proudly call it home. The natural beauty of the raw materials used to create the house, along with the significant work put into building it, have created a special place for one special family to live.
“It’s a dream house. It’s something I wanted,” Alison said.
Photos by Amira Abusharkh
Photos by Amira Abusharkh
