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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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All Native Americans
have a common denominator

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in how they relate
to the universe,

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how they are in harmony
and in balance with nature.

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And they try to put that
into their structures.

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What we want is to build
from the inside out,

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to let it grow, almost like
a human body, human organism.

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There needs to be more
knowledge out there

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about our own
ancient architecture.

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And we need to learn about it,
and designers and architects

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need to learn about
it, so that they

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can revive that ancient craft.

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When we're designing
things for Native America,

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we always look to say, will this
building talk and tell a story?

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Because it's going
to last through time.

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These structures are
part of the dream.

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You want to build
them, build them,

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and then your
dream's carrying on.

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You're breaking away from
the conventional style

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of construction.

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And once you do
that, things change.

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Time changes.

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The southwest of North
America is an arid landscape

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of extremes, where high
mesas and buttes give way

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to deep canyons.

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Perched 367 feet high on
top of a towering mesa

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of sandstone rock is
the puebla of Acoma,

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also known as Sky City.

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It is the oldest
continuously inhabited

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city in North America.

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There are over 250 terraced
dwellings at Acoma,

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many of which have
been around since 1150,

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and are remarkably
well preserved.

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The dwellings are made
of stone and adobe

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and are often
three stories tall.

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None of the buildings
have electricity, water,

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or sewage systems.

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All property in Acoma
is owned by the youngest

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sister in the
family and is passed

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on to her youngest daughter.

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There are no building codes.

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Every woman builds
as she chooses.

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And each has a secret
mixture of adobe components

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that is used to mend
and maintain her home.

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Ingredients like
manure, ash, straw,

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and bones, as well as clay, go
into the bricks and plaster.

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In keeping with
Acoma's long history

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of architectural achievement,
a new cultural center

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is being built at
the base of the mesa.

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The building will
demonstrate the evolution

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from ancient accomplishments,
such as Sky City,

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to modern innovations in
style, technique, and material.

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Brian Vallo is the general
manager of the Sky City

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Cultural Center.

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He makes regular visits to the
ancient ruins of Pueblo Bonito

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at Chaco Canyon.

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it was here that
his ancestors built

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one of the most spectacular
architectural achievements

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of the Americas.

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Well, hear at Chaco, my
ancestors were very meticulous

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in their planning.

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And a lot of these structures
represent their observations

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of the sky, the lunar and
solar cycles, the landscape,

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and are deeply rooted in prayer.

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And it was through
that prayer that

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guided them in their design and
the architecture of this place.

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That's what Chaco and
other ancestral homelands

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represent is all that combined.

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The people who are living
at Chaco who migrated here

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from the north, from probably
various areas of that Mesa

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Verde region, were
very sophisticated,

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were very tied to
the supernatural.

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So they were very
rooted to the sky.

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They were very rooted to the
[? beings ?] on the surface

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and below.

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And so it was with
that power that they

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were able to construct
something so magnificent

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as Pueblo Bonito and other
areas of this region.

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Early in the second
millennium, Chaco Canyon

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served as the political,
religious, and cultural trade

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center for a network
of communities.

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At the epicenter
of this development

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was Pueblo Bonito, a
spectacular planned structure

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that had over 800 rooms and
rose five stories in height.

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The ruins of Pueblo
Bonito outline

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a structure that is as
large as the Roman Coliseum.

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It sits centrally in
a complex of buildings

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whose walls are
perfectly aligned

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with the north-south solar
access as well as the summer

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solstice.

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The buildings were
constructed using thousands

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of tons of sandstone,
quarried from above

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and carried by hand
down to the canyon.

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It took 12 generations to
build a complex of structures

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in Chaco Canyon and
the surrounding area.

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The masonry here is
probably a good example

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of some of that fine,
almost dry stone process.

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These walls, because
they're thick,

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they probably range
anywhere from two to two

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and a half feet thick.

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There's probably a separation
from the style of this wall

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onto the opposite
side of the wall.

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It's an interior space
on the opposite side,

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but it's probably a different
style of stacked stone.

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But this here is
a good example of

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that meticulous construction.

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And then these smaller stacks
are supported by a larger slab.

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And you see that pattern in
this particular wall, where

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you have about a five inch gap
between each of the thicker

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slab.

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And that's what gave the
walls the stability for beams

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as large as these to
hold the second floor

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and maybe even a third floor--
or maybe the second floor

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of this was a dance plaza.

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So the construction
was well thought out.

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It's very beautiful.

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It's amazing.

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One of the things that we
pointed out for the architects

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was that we wanted our
new cultural center

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to features some of
those passageways

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that you find in ancestral
dwellings like this.

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Of course, the doorways
would be much larger.

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But it's the same concept
of the continuous passage

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from one living area to
the next and to the next.

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And it also shows how
the tie from maybe one

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family unit, or maybe
based on a clan group,

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would have related
people or family

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living in the next dwelling
and the next dwelling.

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So this could in fact have
been maybe one central dwelling

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for one clan group.

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And so that's what
we wanted to feature

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as part of those architectural
elements in our facility.

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And it's taken from
this concept here.

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There's been an
evolution, certainly.

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But the systems
and the processes

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for planning and development
are still intact.

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And that's the way in
which Acoma was settled.

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I think one of the most
distinctive features

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of the new cultural
center is its orientation.

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The way that in which
it's situated there

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in the Acoma valley is very
similar to this Pueblo Bonita--

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the migration path
north-south that we always

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refer to in prayer and
in any development.

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And so the cultural center
is situated that way.

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We have the entry
from the north,

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just us maybe some
of the ancestors

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here entered from the back
wall of Pueblo Bonito, and even

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other sites within
Chaco Canyon, and then

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entering onto the living
areas, or the cultural spaces,

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the spiritual spaces.

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The new cultural center will
serve both the Acoma community

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and the thousands
of visitors who come

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to discover Acoma every year.

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One part of the building will
be for community and family use,

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while another part will
be mainly for tourists.

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Passageways and stonework
will reflect Chaco Canyon.

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A variety of windows
styles from mica to glass

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will reflect the evolution of
windows as scene atop the mesa

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today.

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The components used to make
these gigantic construction

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blocks reflects the latest
in fireproof insulation

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technology.

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A lot of the elders
were very blunt

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about their desires
and their vision.

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But they were also very
cautious not to recreate Acoma

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or an entire village concept
that you would see on the tour.

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But they wanted to take
elements from existing Acoma

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architecture, historic Acoma
architecture, and ancestral

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architecture, and bring those
elements into this facility.

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They were also very
adamant about the fact

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that since this would be a
state of the art facility,

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that some more modern or
technologically advanced

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forms of architectural
styles and materials

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be incorporated
into this facility.

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So there's wood.

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There's metal.

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There's concrete.

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There's stone, various
types of stone and earth

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that have been incorporated
into this facility.

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All of the exterior
plaster of colors

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came from the local landscape.

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We took samples from
various parts of this valley

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and produced sample exterior
stuccoes and interior plasters

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for this facility.

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When the cultural
center is open,

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I believe that my people and
my religious leaders and elders

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will be very pleased
that we carried out

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what we intended to do, which
was a directive from them.

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This fertile land of mixed wood
forest of northeastern North

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America is now the
most populated region

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in the continent.

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It is also home to
the Mohawk people,

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one of the Six Nations of
the Iroquois Confederacy.

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We designed the trusses
in the wall panel--

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Brian Porter is a
Mohawk architect.

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His firm, Two Row Architect,
is located at the Six Nations

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reserve.

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He's designed many of the
public buildings in this area,

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as well as buildings in other
First Nations communities

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across Canada.

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Brian began his business
during the 1980s, a time

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when the government
of Canada began

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to change its procedures
regarding First Nations

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community projects.

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That's when communities began
to oversee their own projects,

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including choosing
and hiring architects.

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Since 1985 a lot of people
have had the question

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what indigenous
architecture is and what

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aboriginal architecture is.

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One of the things I've noticed
having the opportunity to work

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in places like Moose Factory,
and Seabird Island in British

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Columbia, and New
York State, Wisconsin,

00:15:21.010 --> 00:15:24.210
is there are Native
American values that you

00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:27.680
can see in each of
these communities that

00:15:27.680 --> 00:15:31.690
tend to span borders and
provinces and states.

00:15:31.690 --> 00:15:35.130
Things like having an
affinity for the land;

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the natural contours
of the land;

00:15:37.140 --> 00:15:40.550
wanting to be in
and of the earth;

00:15:40.550 --> 00:15:42.890
wanting to surround ourself
with natural materials,

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like stone and wood;
wanting to be respectful;

00:15:48.520 --> 00:15:50.950
trying to think about
when we're designing

00:15:50.950 --> 00:15:52.740
mechanical and
electrical systems

00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:55.034
not really thinking
about something that's

00:15:55.034 --> 00:15:57.200
going to last five years,
but something that's going

00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:01.007
to last seven generations.

00:16:01.007 --> 00:16:02.840
Some of those kinds of
things sort of typify

00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:04.830
what aboriginal
architecture is and what

00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:07.230
indigenous architecture is.

00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:10.530
It's a regional solution.

00:16:10.530 --> 00:16:12.700
But the values are
something I think

00:16:12.700 --> 00:16:16.390
that are North America, or the
Americas-wide, for that matter.

00:16:16.390 --> 00:16:19.670
One of Brian's first projects
since the change in government

00:16:19.670 --> 00:16:22.540
policy was the Emily
C. General Elementary

00:16:22.540 --> 00:16:23.770
School at Six Nations.

00:16:31.790 --> 00:16:36.390
This school was built I think
between about 1988 and 1990.

00:16:36.390 --> 00:16:39.560
And it was one of the
first buildings that

00:16:39.560 --> 00:16:43.260
was built in the
community, where we really

00:16:43.260 --> 00:16:46.180
started to get a say about
what our buildings looked like,

00:16:46.180 --> 00:16:47.390
how they were designed.

00:16:47.390 --> 00:16:48.290
So it was really fun.

00:16:48.290 --> 00:16:51.714
There was a lot of enthusiasm
in the community at the time.

00:16:51.714 --> 00:16:53.380
We were going to be
able to have control

00:16:53.380 --> 00:16:55.620
finally of the building.

00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:58.300
There were probably
four or five themes

00:16:58.300 --> 00:17:03.310
though that really were
instrumental in how and how

00:17:03.310 --> 00:17:04.970
the building was set up.

00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:10.010
One of those themes has
to do with really having

00:17:10.010 --> 00:17:15.530
the way the sun rises and
the way the sun sets, rises

00:17:15.530 --> 00:17:18.750
in the east and
sets in the west,

00:17:18.750 --> 00:17:21.300
and the path that the sun
takes across the sky had

00:17:21.300 --> 00:17:25.319
a lot to do with the way that
this building was organized.

00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:29.690
The spine of the building, which
you can kind of see here best

00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:35.940
with the skylight, runs exactly
along the north-south access.

00:17:35.940 --> 00:17:38.370
It lets light into the
heart of the building.

00:17:38.370 --> 00:17:41.560
The library is directly
underneath that skylight.

00:17:41.560 --> 00:17:45.520
So you can almost
measure the time of day

00:17:45.520 --> 00:17:48.180
and what season it is
by the way the shadows

00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:49.815
are cast on the inside.

00:17:53.360 --> 00:17:55.710
The main entrance to
the building faces east.

00:17:55.710 --> 00:17:59.000
There's a history of entering
through the eastern door

00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:00.470
with Iroquoian society.

00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:03.480
So we were able to
incorporate that as well.

00:18:07.540 --> 00:18:09.200
What I like about
architecture is

00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:11.780
there's a social
responsibility, I guess,

00:18:11.780 --> 00:18:16.040
is that you want to make an
environment in a space that's

00:18:16.040 --> 00:18:17.480
exciting.

00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:21.250
But you need to worry about
things like life safety

00:18:21.250 --> 00:18:23.050
and some of the
practical things as well.

00:18:23.050 --> 00:18:25.740
So it's kind of a challenge
to bring all of those things

00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:26.637
together.

00:18:26.637 --> 00:18:28.220
And then once it's
done, you've really

00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:30.840
got something that
has the potential

00:18:30.840 --> 00:18:36.610
to contribute to the
community for years to come.

00:18:36.610 --> 00:18:38.470
And this is done [INAUDIBLE].

00:18:38.470 --> 00:18:38.970
Yeah.

00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:42.760
Brian has clients on
and off the reserve.

00:18:42.760 --> 00:18:44.500
In the early years
of his career,

00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:46.730
he worked for
governments and learned

00:18:46.730 --> 00:18:48.740
how projects are
funded and managed

00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:51.440
in First Nations communities.

00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.160
That knowledge has helped
him work with the communities

00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.435
in developing new projects.

00:18:55.435 --> 00:18:57.306
The good news, I think--

00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:04.750
These new projects
have tended more

00:19:04.750 --> 00:19:07.470
towards multi-purpose
centers rather than

00:19:07.470 --> 00:19:08.495
single-use structures.

00:19:11.194 --> 00:19:13.735
There are some values I think
that are consistent in the work

00:19:13.735 --> 00:19:14.680
that we develop.

00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:18.060
One of those things I think
is like community building.

00:19:18.060 --> 00:19:21.320
And what I mean by that is
because of a lot of our work

00:19:21.320 --> 00:19:25.110
was for First Nation
groups, in the communities

00:19:25.110 --> 00:19:28.606
where we're doing work,
they get so few buildings.

00:19:28.606 --> 00:19:30.230
So it seems like
every building that we

00:19:30.230 --> 00:19:33.280
do ends up being a kind
of a community center,

00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:35.832
regardless of what
it is, whether it's

00:19:35.832 --> 00:19:39.860
a daycare or a
recreation center.

00:19:39.860 --> 00:19:43.354
I think that would be a team
that's predominant in our work.

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.870
Brian's Mohawk ancestry
reflects a culture

00:19:55.870 --> 00:19:58.190
that has always placed
great importance

00:19:58.190 --> 00:20:01.750
on a sense of community.

00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:03.800
This farming region
was productive enough

00:20:03.800 --> 00:20:08.027
so people could live together in
one place for periods of time.

00:20:08.027 --> 00:20:09.485
And that affected
the architecture.

00:20:16.850 --> 00:20:20.432
The old villages were surrounded
by palisades that sheltered

00:20:20.432 --> 00:20:21.390
a number of longhouses.

00:20:24.090 --> 00:20:28.200
Big and roomy, home
to extended families,

00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:32.000
the longhouses were the
center of village life.

00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.630
All activities from
construction to social events

00:20:35.630 --> 00:20:39.920
filled the buildings and
brought people together.

00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:42.250
Like other
Iroquoians, the Mohawk

00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:44.600
had a clan system
that was matrilineal

00:20:44.600 --> 00:20:47.080
in its social structure.

00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:49.740
This social organization
facilitated the growth

00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:54.070
of large but compact villages.

00:20:54.070 --> 00:20:55.900
What I see when I
see a longhouse is I

00:20:55.900 --> 00:20:58.690
see this intentionally
long structure

00:20:58.690 --> 00:21:02.730
that's very, very democratic,
where each of the sleeping

00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:04.810
berths is evenhanded.

00:21:04.810 --> 00:21:08.570
There's no class structure.

00:21:08.570 --> 00:21:10.640
There's this idea
about extended family

00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:13.660
all being contained
within one living vessel.

00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:20.290
A longhouse have this kind of
skin and bones aesthetic to it,

00:21:20.290 --> 00:21:23.490
where you're taking a pole
that doesn't by itself have

00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:24.490
a whole lot of strength.

00:21:24.490 --> 00:21:26.810
But as soon as you bend
it, you pretension it.

00:21:26.810 --> 00:21:29.060
And you tie it to other poles.

00:21:29.060 --> 00:21:30.630
Now you're making
it a lot stronger.

00:21:30.630 --> 00:21:34.360
And the way you're binding it
together, you immediately get

00:21:34.360 --> 00:21:40.540
a sense of how the materials are
working to hold that thing up.

00:21:40.540 --> 00:21:42.590
I've always gotten a
lot of appreciation

00:21:42.590 --> 00:21:43.910
for looking at structure.

00:21:43.910 --> 00:21:47.280
And I guess pretty
much every building

00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:48.925
that we have ever
done, we've fought

00:21:48.925 --> 00:21:53.900
to try and have the way
the structures working

00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:56.820
to hold the building up
tell a little bit of a story

00:21:56.820 --> 00:21:58.320
to whoever's using the building.

00:22:04.500 --> 00:22:07.220
Brian incorporated
the longhouse form

00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:09.980
into the design of the Six
Nations Commercial Business

00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:10.480
Center.

00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:21.910
So the way [INAUDIBLE]
thought about this

00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:25.100
was a group of longhouses
coming together,

00:22:25.100 --> 00:22:29.460
longhouse structures, very sort
of ration, clean buildings.

00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:33.800
And much like what
you would have

00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:37.620
found in a longhouse
palisade is the space

00:22:37.620 --> 00:22:43.220
between the buildings becomes
the communal gathering places.

00:22:43.220 --> 00:22:45.860
One of the nice things about
doing projects on the reserve,

00:22:45.860 --> 00:22:48.400
we don't have the same
kind of legislation

00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.940
that we have to follow
as you would off-reserve.

00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:55.450
so if you go to some of the
mainstream municipalities

00:22:55.450 --> 00:22:58.160
in the area, their
zoning really doesn't

00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.320
allow for this kind of mixed
use development, where you've

00:23:01.320 --> 00:23:05.390
got industrial applications
in some places mixing

00:23:05.390 --> 00:23:10.670
with classrooms that are
mixing with commercial space.

00:23:10.670 --> 00:23:12.970
So to my mind, this
is closer to the way

00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:16.080
that our developments would
have happened in the past, where

00:23:16.080 --> 00:23:19.010
you're getting these different
types of agencies coming

00:23:19.010 --> 00:23:25.730
together under one roof to make
a community center that really

00:23:25.730 --> 00:23:28.190
is servicing all of
the different sectors.

00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:32.510
And that's something
that conventional zoning

00:23:32.510 --> 00:23:34.018
prohibits that from happening.

00:23:38.470 --> 00:23:41.850
One of the downfalls of the
way that developments happened

00:23:41.850 --> 00:23:46.140
in Ontario and probably
the Eastern US is

00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:48.310
all these little
segments of society

00:23:48.310 --> 00:23:49.760
are starting to be fragmented.

00:23:49.760 --> 00:23:52.030
And it's called urban planning.

00:23:52.030 --> 00:23:54.560
And if you look at reserves
in Canada, I think,

00:23:54.560 --> 00:23:57.790
you'll see that a lot of that
stuff is still intertwined.

00:23:57.790 --> 00:24:01.240
and it's not quite so divided.

00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:03.280
I think the rest of
society's got a little bit

00:24:03.280 --> 00:24:06.885
to learn from us yet on how
that can make rich communities.

00:24:30.600 --> 00:24:35.510
The high Arctic is a
harsh and rocky place.

00:24:35.510 --> 00:24:38.570
The soil is thin, and
trees do not grow here.

00:24:42.050 --> 00:24:45.730
Ancestors of the modern day
Inuit, the ancient Tunit

00:24:45.730 --> 00:24:49.330
people, built their homes on a
foundation of stone and whale

00:24:49.330 --> 00:24:51.290
bone.

00:24:51.290 --> 00:24:53.690
According to my
great uncle, he used

00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:57.030
to talk about the Tunit,
the people before us.

00:24:57.030 --> 00:24:59.510
He used to talk
about them, how they

00:24:59.510 --> 00:25:03.730
lived, what kind of housing
they had, what kind of people

00:25:03.730 --> 00:25:05.250
they were.

00:25:05.250 --> 00:25:10.020
First of all, he said the Tunit
were very, very short people,

00:25:10.020 --> 00:25:11.890
a lot shorter than us Inuit.

00:25:11.890 --> 00:25:14.270
We're short, but they
were even shorter.

00:25:14.270 --> 00:25:18.385
And he said they were very, very
strong, powerful and strong.

00:25:27.090 --> 00:25:29.930
We knew that they
are our ancestors.

00:25:29.930 --> 00:25:33.965
We'd never see their
grades or their bones.

00:25:33.965 --> 00:25:38.130
But we have seen their
[INAUDIBLE], their giant homes,

00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:42.030
and heard stories from
our elders, how they lived

00:25:42.030 --> 00:25:44.180
and where they went.

00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:50.210
Tunit villages consisted of 6 to
30 houses made of stone slabs,

00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:55.220
skins, and cut sod
supported by whalebone.

00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:57.480
The roof was
dome-shaped, held up

00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:00.310
by rafters of
whale jaw and ribs,

00:26:00.310 --> 00:26:02.480
set in the stones
of the outer wall

00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:06.520
and tied together at the top.

00:26:06.520 --> 00:26:09.400
The frame was covered
in skins, then

00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:11.220
with a thick layer of turf and.

00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:20.920
Moss

00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:23.850
The Arctic climate is severe.

00:26:23.850 --> 00:26:28.340
It is a land of deep cold,
mighty winds, and very little

00:26:28.340 --> 00:26:29.355
natural shelter.

00:26:42.050 --> 00:26:44.040
The abundant snow
is surprisingly

00:26:44.040 --> 00:26:47.520
effective as insulation around
the modern prefab homes.

00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:56.300
Hunting is still an important
part of the local economy.

00:26:56.300 --> 00:26:59.920
There are no roads
between the communities.

00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.770
Travel is by plane or Ski-Doo.

00:27:03.770 --> 00:27:07.580
The distances are far, and
storms can overtake a traveler

00:27:07.580 --> 00:27:10.410
without warning.

00:27:10.410 --> 00:27:14.570
There are no motels
for hotels on the land,

00:27:14.570 --> 00:27:17.580
so the people have to
build a snow house,

00:27:17.580 --> 00:27:18.920
also known as an igloo.

00:27:26.010 --> 00:27:28.180
It takes to people two
people about an hour

00:27:28.180 --> 00:27:29.450
to build a snow house.

00:27:56.280 --> 00:27:57.500
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:28:41.990 --> 00:28:43.160
We don't live in them.

00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:47.810
But we still know how to
build them, and we have to.

00:28:47.810 --> 00:28:52.040
But we still have to know
what kind of snow there is.

00:28:52.040 --> 00:28:56.910
We still have to look for a
special kind of snow house

00:28:56.910 --> 00:28:58.480
building snow.

00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:03.110
It can't be just any old snow.

00:29:03.110 --> 00:29:07.160
Packed snow compressed into
a single layer by one storm

00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:08.230
makes the best blogs.

00:29:11.280 --> 00:29:15.060
Once the site and size of the
igloo have been determined,

00:29:15.060 --> 00:29:19.250
the floor and passageways
are excavated.

00:29:19.250 --> 00:29:21.730
The blocks are set in a circle.

00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:25.210
And the snow knife is used to
shave them snug and curving

00:29:25.210 --> 00:29:28.220
slightly inward.

00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:32.730
The blocks are added layer
by layer in a spiral pattern.

00:29:32.730 --> 00:29:34.585
A keystone block caps the shell.

00:29:42.050 --> 00:29:46.880
If you expect to live in one
place for a period of time,

00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:50.650
they were more
elaborate, bigger domes.

00:29:50.650 --> 00:29:53.640
If there were many people
in one village that year,

00:29:53.640 --> 00:29:56.000
they had a big [NON-ENGLISH].

00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:01.410
[NON-ENGLISH] was a very
central hilled snow house.

00:30:01.410 --> 00:30:06.190
The annex would be the snow
house in one area, another one,

00:30:06.190 --> 00:30:07.780
another one, all connected.

00:30:18.340 --> 00:30:24.200
In modern Inuit communities, the
houses are connected by roads.

00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:25.970
Many of the
construction problems

00:30:25.970 --> 00:30:28.840
are dictated by the land.

00:30:28.840 --> 00:30:32.220
Rock and permafrost prevent
the digging of foundations,

00:30:32.220 --> 00:30:36.960
so houses are built on
high stilt frameworks.

00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:39.720
This type of construction
allows the fierce winds

00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:42.570
to blow around the house
rather than blowing it over.

00:30:50.934 --> 00:30:53.440
Over the years, the
form of the igloo

00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.720
has been interpreted in
wood frame buildings.

00:31:00.740 --> 00:31:02.500
The legislative
assembly building

00:31:02.500 --> 00:31:05.830
for the newly created
Inuit territory of Nunavut

00:31:05.830 --> 00:31:09.370
doesn't look like a traditional
structure on the outside.

00:31:09.370 --> 00:31:12.850
But inside, its circular
shape and domed ceiling

00:31:12.850 --> 00:31:14.830
convey the sense
of a large igloo.

00:31:26.580 --> 00:31:28.850
The combination of
modern materials,

00:31:28.850 --> 00:31:32.210
like composite beams, along
with traditional elements,

00:31:32.210 --> 00:31:35.990
like seal-skin fabrics, typifies
the northern, modern-day

00:31:35.990 --> 00:31:37.860
mixture of old and new.

00:31:49.644 --> 00:31:54.063
[ORGAN MUSIC AND SINGING]

00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.160
One of the most famous
igloo-shaped buildings

00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:08.984
is Saint Jude's
Cathedral in Iqaluit.

00:32:08.984 --> 00:32:13.430
[ORGAN MUSIC AND SINGING]

00:32:24.298 --> 00:32:29.290
The [INAUDIBLE] church, I go to
the Anglican church when I can.

00:32:29.290 --> 00:32:31.240
That is one of my
favorite buildings.

00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:33.300
It's comfortable.

00:32:33.300 --> 00:32:34.880
It's cozy.

00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.300
Safe-- you know,
I feel very safe

00:32:37.300 --> 00:32:39.950
in there because
of the structure.

00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:41.980
I know it's not
going to fall apart

00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:44.364
in the high winds we had today.

00:32:44.364 --> 00:32:45.280
It's very comfortable.

00:32:56.270 --> 00:33:01.340
Iqaluit, it's grown so
much up into the hills.

00:33:01.340 --> 00:33:05.900
But in the smaller
communities all over Nunavut,

00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:08.910
they will have their choice
of what kind of buildings

00:33:08.910 --> 00:33:14.420
they want eventually,
now we'll be

00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:18.010
able to have a voice in what
kind of communities we want.

00:33:33.850 --> 00:33:37.230
The Great Plains fill the very
center of the North American

00:33:37.230 --> 00:33:41.700
continent, stretching some
1,500 miles north to south

00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:46.510
and more than 1,000
miles east to west.

00:33:46.510 --> 00:33:49.350
The plains landscape,
or prairies,

00:33:49.350 --> 00:33:53.220
consists of rolling
hills and lowlands.

00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:58.200
Short grass prairies dominate
the dryer western plains.

00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:01.505
This place was once home to
giant herds of roaming Buffalo.

00:34:04.890 --> 00:34:07.000
The Native Americans
of the plains,

00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:09.780
like the Crow Nation
in Montana, lived

00:34:09.780 --> 00:34:13.976
in one of the most well-known
structures, the teepee.

00:34:13.976 --> 00:34:17.462
[CHANTING AND MUSIC]

00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:29.080
The Crow Fair at
Crow Agency is one

00:34:29.080 --> 00:34:32.639
of the oldest and biggest
gatherings in the United States

00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:35.821
that bring both the Crow
and other nations together.

00:34:35.821 --> 00:34:38.647
[PA ANNOUNCEMENTS]

00:34:40.060 --> 00:34:45.659
The fair celebrates Crow
culture, heritage, and history.

00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:48.670
It began in the
early 1900s, a time

00:34:48.670 --> 00:34:51.260
when the Crow people had
already made the transition

00:34:51.260 --> 00:34:55.150
from a nomadic tribe to one in
which the federal policy wanted

00:34:55.150 --> 00:34:58.425
them to become farmers by
raising livestock and growing

00:34:58.425 --> 00:34:58.925
crops.

00:35:02.150 --> 00:35:05.440
During the celebration, the
fair becomes the teepee capital

00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:09.150
of the world, with several
hundred teepees set up

00:35:09.150 --> 00:35:11.570
on the grounds.

00:35:11.570 --> 00:35:13.030
We used to live in teepees.

00:35:13.030 --> 00:35:17.540
And they were, for the
lifestyle, probably

00:35:17.540 --> 00:35:20.830
the most appropriate, because
we were nomadic people.

00:35:20.830 --> 00:35:22.550
And we had to pick up quickly.

00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:27.755
And we had to move from camp to
camp to follow good food areas,

00:35:27.755 --> 00:35:31.710
good areas that we can camp
at, here on the plateau,

00:35:31.710 --> 00:35:34.360
on the plains, and
then up in mountains.

00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:38.860
And it was resilient
to real harsh weather.

00:35:38.860 --> 00:35:41.790
So it was good
for all occasions.

00:35:41.790 --> 00:35:43.140
And you could pick it up.

00:35:43.140 --> 00:35:45.092
It was very mobile.

00:35:45.092 --> 00:35:47.355
And so it was good
for that lifestyle.

00:35:55.050 --> 00:35:59.830
Teepees were primarily
made of buffalo hide.

00:35:59.830 --> 00:36:04.025
So in terms of history, in
a very short time, buffalo,

00:36:04.025 --> 00:36:05.225
it was gone.

00:36:05.225 --> 00:36:09.070
And we had deer and elk
and others to replace that.

00:36:09.070 --> 00:36:10.580
But the teepees remained.

00:36:10.580 --> 00:36:13.460
The idea of the teepee,
it's innate in us.

00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:15.350
It's natural to us.

00:36:15.350 --> 00:36:16.270
The teepee remained.

00:36:24.120 --> 00:36:26.470
While other nations
paint their teepees

00:36:26.470 --> 00:36:29.200
to convey information
about the owners,

00:36:29.200 --> 00:36:33.090
Crow teepees are left white.

00:36:33.090 --> 00:36:37.260
Markings on poles, pegs,
and door ornamentations

00:36:37.260 --> 00:36:39.665
identify the crow family
living in the teepee.

00:36:42.870 --> 00:36:46.790
Teepees are light, portable,
and perfectly suited

00:36:46.790 --> 00:36:49.520
to their environment.

00:36:49.520 --> 00:36:52.740
The Crow teepee consists
of four base polls,

00:36:52.740 --> 00:36:55.800
which represent the four
cardinal points and the seasons

00:36:55.800 --> 00:36:58.090
of the year.

00:36:58.090 --> 00:37:01.830
Facing east, the two door
poles represent the spirits

00:37:01.830 --> 00:37:04.620
of the mountain
lion and the bear.

00:37:04.620 --> 00:37:07.000
They protect the teepee.

00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:09.160
Two flat poles
represent the spirits

00:37:09.160 --> 00:37:13.970
of the owl and the coyote
who guard over the teepee.

00:37:13.970 --> 00:37:17.980
A chief pole represents
the owner of the teepee.

00:37:17.980 --> 00:37:20.680
Two helper poles and
the secondary poles

00:37:20.680 --> 00:37:23.950
are personal and
connected with nature.

00:37:23.950 --> 00:37:26.500
They represent the
life of the owner

00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:28.490
and are important
for a good life.

00:37:31.040 --> 00:37:34.650
An inner liner is attached
to the lodge poles.

00:37:34.650 --> 00:37:37.720
The inner liner helps
the teepee to breathe

00:37:37.720 --> 00:37:39.890
by drawing fresh
air from outside

00:37:39.890 --> 00:37:43.200
and directing it up the
wall to the smoke hole.

00:37:43.200 --> 00:37:46.220
This helps cool the
teepee in the summer.

00:37:46.220 --> 00:37:49.580
In winter, the liner is
filled with straw or grass,

00:37:49.580 --> 00:37:53.000
which serves as insulation
to keep the teepee warm.

00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:55.990
It was the women who
pitched the teepee.

00:37:55.990 --> 00:37:59.000
They were the people that
prepared the food, prepared

00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:00.400
the clothing.

00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:05.430
And they were really the people
that ran the home, the teepee,

00:38:05.430 --> 00:38:08.760
pitching the teepee and taking
them down and moving them.

00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:12.600
There were always at
the helm doing that.

00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:32.730
When you look at
the teepee lodge,

00:38:32.730 --> 00:38:36.010
you see that it's form
following function.

00:38:36.010 --> 00:38:40.850
It's a very nice beautiful
and yet very simple structure.

00:38:40.850 --> 00:38:44.910
The structure is expressed on
the inside and on the outside.

00:38:44.910 --> 00:38:47.510
When you walk into a
teepee lodge, you look up,

00:38:47.510 --> 00:38:50.960
you see the lodge poles,
and you understand it.

00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:52.850
It's what we call a
legible structure.

00:38:57.750 --> 00:39:00.730
Daniel Glenn is a Crow
architect and university

00:39:00.730 --> 00:39:04.830
professor who grew up
on the Crow reservation.

00:39:04.830 --> 00:39:07.440
He designed the Little
Bighorn College campus

00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:08.901
for the Crow Agency.

00:39:08.901 --> 00:39:09.400
I

00:39:09.400 --> 00:39:12.230
Would be proud to call myself
a Native American architect.

00:39:12.230 --> 00:39:15.580
I think, though, that one of the
things I've really focused on

00:39:15.580 --> 00:39:18.490
is not Native American
architecture, but really

00:39:18.490 --> 00:39:20.610
a tribal architecture.

00:39:20.610 --> 00:39:23.060
And the idea there
is that I've studied

00:39:23.060 --> 00:39:24.800
a lot of what is
traditionally called

00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:26.620
Native American architecture.

00:39:26.620 --> 00:39:31.190
And I believe that
much of it is trying

00:39:31.190 --> 00:39:35.170
respond to a generic
idea, of certain colors,

00:39:35.170 --> 00:39:39.150
of certain images that are
set in the mind of people

00:39:39.150 --> 00:39:42.600
about what Native Americans are.

00:39:42.600 --> 00:39:45.390
So I'm really interested,
at this moment in my career

00:39:45.390 --> 00:39:49.550
and in my life's effort,
to be a Crow architect,

00:39:49.550 --> 00:39:55.400
and to really focus on that idea
of what is Crow architecture?

00:39:55.400 --> 00:39:57.620
It isn't easy, because
what we're doing here

00:39:57.620 --> 00:40:02.720
is we're creating something that
is not a part of the culture.

00:40:02.720 --> 00:40:06.280
Architecture of this
sort is not at all part

00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:10.060
of the cultural ethos
or memory of the people.

00:40:10.060 --> 00:40:11.950
So what oftentimes
people do is they

00:40:11.950 --> 00:40:15.140
try to copy some of the
imagery of that culture

00:40:15.140 --> 00:40:17.070
like a teepee lodge and
make a building that

00:40:17.070 --> 00:40:21.530
looks like a teepee or a hogan.

00:40:21.530 --> 00:40:25.770
And I'd like to try
to go deeper than that

00:40:25.770 --> 00:40:28.400
and find something
beyond the surface

00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:30.026
idea of the architecture.

00:40:35.180 --> 00:40:38.290
Daniel's career focuses
on socially responsible,

00:40:38.290 --> 00:40:40.660
pragmatic, and
affordable architecture.

00:40:46.030 --> 00:40:49.620
After extensive training and
work on public housing projects

00:40:49.620 --> 00:40:52.720
around the world,
Daniel returned home,

00:40:52.720 --> 00:40:56.220
bringing those values and skills
to the collaborative projects,

00:40:56.220 --> 00:40:57.580
like the Little Bighorn College.

00:41:00.520 --> 00:41:02.720
One of his challenges
was to reinterpret

00:41:02.720 --> 00:41:05.090
the structure of
the mobile teepee

00:41:05.090 --> 00:41:06.535
into a contemporary building.

00:41:09.640 --> 00:41:12.840
So I started to look at
the teepee lodge itself,

00:41:12.840 --> 00:41:16.550
and also at traditional
artifacts of the Crow people,

00:41:16.550 --> 00:41:20.150
and how can we learn
that structure.

00:41:20.150 --> 00:41:23.550
I didn't believe in the idea
of building a giant teepee.

00:41:23.550 --> 00:41:25.590
In fact, during the
process that was

00:41:25.590 --> 00:41:28.810
proposed by some of
the community members,

00:41:28.810 --> 00:41:32.189
because they refer to
this as a learning lodge,

00:41:32.189 --> 00:41:34.480
and so at some point there
was this idea we'd literally

00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:37.290
make a giant teepee structure.

00:41:37.290 --> 00:41:40.130
How can we say, OK,
here's a teepee lodge,

00:41:40.130 --> 00:41:43.640
which was designed very
specifically for transport,

00:41:43.640 --> 00:41:47.290
very specifically based
on the materials at hand--

00:41:47.290 --> 00:41:51.470
the buffalo hide,
the lodgepole pine--

00:41:51.470 --> 00:41:56.190
that has now progressed into
or transformed into the canvas

00:41:56.190 --> 00:41:57.670
teepee.

00:41:57.670 --> 00:41:59.590
These are things
that have very little

00:41:59.590 --> 00:42:03.590
to do with a permanent,
fixed structure.

00:42:03.590 --> 00:42:06.750
Because even though
the teepee lodge

00:42:06.750 --> 00:42:09.620
does not try to
look like something,

00:42:09.620 --> 00:42:13.720
it does embody the
culture, primarily

00:42:13.720 --> 00:42:16.550
in the idea of the
circle itself, the circle

00:42:16.550 --> 00:42:20.050
being the most sacred
form to indigenous people

00:42:20.050 --> 00:42:22.030
everywhere, the
idea of the circle.

00:42:22.030 --> 00:42:27.330
And the teepee lodge
is circular form.

00:42:27.330 --> 00:42:30.390
Here we are in the
center building.

00:42:30.390 --> 00:42:35.750
And we wanted to bring
the power of the circle

00:42:35.750 --> 00:42:37.373
into this building.

00:42:37.373 --> 00:42:39.720
Obviously, we couldn't
build a circular building,

00:42:39.720 --> 00:42:44.240
given the spirit of economy
and simplicity of construction

00:42:44.240 --> 00:42:48.470
that we were aiming for
in budgetary reality.

00:42:48.470 --> 00:42:51.530
So we've done it
here in the center

00:42:51.530 --> 00:42:54.840
by creating a circular
space that we carved that.

00:42:54.840 --> 00:42:58.360
This is what we call
a knuckle, where

00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:01.840
there's a change in
direction as you come.

00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:03.390
This is the true north-south.

00:43:03.390 --> 00:43:07.600
And then it shifts direction
to align with the street,

00:43:07.600 --> 00:43:09.863
to bring the building in
line with the community.

00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:17.160
We designed the buildings
with a steel structure--

00:43:17.160 --> 00:43:19.720
not a wood structure,
a steel structure,

00:43:19.720 --> 00:43:22.780
just like the teepee lodge
has adapted over time

00:43:22.780 --> 00:43:24.720
to different materials.

00:43:24.720 --> 00:43:26.400
It got bigger when
the horse came in.

00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:28.750
It was much smaller
before with dogs.

00:43:28.750 --> 00:43:32.160
We said we want to
use modern materials.

00:43:32.160 --> 00:43:33.160
They're available to us.

00:43:33.160 --> 00:43:33.784
Let's use them.

00:43:33.784 --> 00:43:36.490
It's a practical,
pragmatic idea.

00:43:36.490 --> 00:43:42.060
Steel frame structure is akin to
the frame of the teepee lodge.

00:43:42.060 --> 00:43:43.000
It's very light.

00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:45.040
It's very durable.

00:43:45.040 --> 00:43:46.660
And we wanted it
to be expressed.

00:43:46.660 --> 00:43:50.080
So when you walk in the
building, you see the columns

00:43:50.080 --> 00:43:52.129
and beams and you
understand it immediately.

00:43:52.129 --> 00:43:53.670
You know what holds
that building up.

00:43:53.670 --> 00:43:54.950
It's not hidden in the walls.

00:43:59.290 --> 00:44:01.430
Daniel designed the
building to minimize

00:44:01.430 --> 00:44:04.250
the heating and cooling costs.

00:44:04.250 --> 00:44:07.210
This was done by placing the
building in an east to west

00:44:07.210 --> 00:44:09.250
alignment that
allows the building

00:44:09.250 --> 00:44:11.240
to take advantage
of the southern sun

00:44:11.240 --> 00:44:13.930
to warm it in the winter
and to let it cool

00:44:13.930 --> 00:44:15.340
more readily in the summer.

00:44:19.050 --> 00:44:22.960
The design also brings
daylight into the building.

00:44:22.960 --> 00:44:26.460
Just as the teepee lodge is
lit by the light of the sun,

00:44:26.460 --> 00:44:29.360
this building is also lit
through its whole length

00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:31.450
by the passage of
sunlight from above.

00:44:34.100 --> 00:44:37.120
The concern I had was, well,
if we develop a building which

00:44:37.120 --> 00:44:42.140
is pure form following function,
which in fact we sort of did,

00:44:42.140 --> 00:44:43.510
how do people relate to it?

00:44:43.510 --> 00:44:46.640
How does it become something
that is culturally significant.

00:44:46.640 --> 00:44:47.890
It doesn't look like a teepee.

00:44:47.890 --> 00:44:51.210
It doesn't try to be
directly anything.

00:44:51.210 --> 00:44:54.940
So we came to the decision that
we would bead the building.

00:45:03.590 --> 00:45:06.510
The main entry that
faces into the courtyard

00:45:06.510 --> 00:45:11.410
is based off of about
a 1860s Crow bridal

00:45:11.410 --> 00:45:14.470
collar, which is
shaped similarly

00:45:14.470 --> 00:45:17.800
to that large rectangular form.

00:45:17.800 --> 00:45:20.600
And then in my research,
found that the very

00:45:20.600 --> 00:45:24.790
familiar hourglass form
that you see in Crow

00:45:24.790 --> 00:45:26.950
beadwork, which is pretty
unique to the Crow,

00:45:26.950 --> 00:45:30.370
is thought to be-- although
not certain-- to be based off

00:45:30.370 --> 00:45:33.910
of the fact that the Crow lodge
has these extended poles, which

00:45:33.910 --> 00:45:37.250
almost equal the height
of the teepee itself.

00:45:37.250 --> 00:45:39.190
And it creates this hourglass.

00:45:39.190 --> 00:45:42.750
So you'll see this
hourglass figure repeated

00:45:42.750 --> 00:45:45.330
throughout the buildings.

00:45:45.330 --> 00:45:49.750
And that gives it, in my
view, a reflection of the idea

00:45:49.750 --> 00:45:50.605
of the lodge itself.

00:45:53.210 --> 00:45:56.960
[CHANTING AND MUSIC]

00:45:56.960 --> 00:45:58.599
We don't live in
teepees anymore.

00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:00.640
But I don't think we'll
ever [? suit loose ?] out

00:46:00.640 --> 00:46:06.780
of the teepee and all of
the good things about it.

00:46:06.780 --> 00:46:09.070
So in remembrance
of that history,

00:46:09.070 --> 00:46:12.590
we still try to remember it
as a part of our identity

00:46:12.590 --> 00:46:17.220
so that we can at least identify
something as Crow people,

00:46:17.220 --> 00:46:20.220
as a distinct person,
with primarily

00:46:20.220 --> 00:46:23.790
speaking our own language
that we preserved.

00:46:23.790 --> 00:46:26.660
So that's essentially what
Crow Fair is all about.

00:46:26.660 --> 00:46:29.810
I guess that's what being
Indian is all about today,

00:46:29.810 --> 00:46:32.060
because every culture
has to change.

00:46:32.060 --> 00:46:34.050
And we know that.

00:46:34.050 --> 00:46:38.687
But we'd like to keep a
lot of that in our hearts

00:46:38.687 --> 00:46:39.520
today, in our minds.

00:46:52.930 --> 00:46:55.080
People have lived
on this high desert

00:46:55.080 --> 00:47:00.220
landscape of the Southwest
for thousands of years.

00:47:00.220 --> 00:47:05.220
Red rock canyons, sandstone
mesas, and sweeping sage plains

00:47:05.220 --> 00:47:07.510
all contain evidence
of ancient cultures.

00:47:10.180 --> 00:47:14.450
The land is part of the Colorado
Plateau, an extremely varied

00:47:14.450 --> 00:47:19.030
region of elevations that range
from about 3,500 feet above sea

00:47:19.030 --> 00:47:22.954
level to more than 10,000 feet.

00:47:22.954 --> 00:47:26.440
[CHATTER]

00:47:26.440 --> 00:47:31.500
Today, the Navajo are by far
the most numerous in the region.

00:47:31.500 --> 00:47:34.780
The Navajo also have
the largest reservation,

00:47:34.780 --> 00:47:38.950
which spans 25,000 square
miles across Arizona,

00:47:38.950 --> 00:47:41.200
New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

00:47:43.960 --> 00:47:48.090
Window Rock has special
meaning to the people.

00:47:48.090 --> 00:47:52.570
It is a threshold THAT acts
as a door to their homeland.

00:47:52.570 --> 00:47:54.800
It is also the capital
of the Navajo Nation

00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:58.080
government, located just
inside the Arizona border.

00:48:03.200 --> 00:48:08.250
Robert Johnson works at the
Navajo Nation visitor center.

00:48:08.250 --> 00:48:11.800
He built this hogan,
also pronounced "ho-an,"

00:48:11.800 --> 00:48:12.510
for the center.

00:48:15.530 --> 00:48:21.830
The Navajo culture, everything,
comes in two-- male and female.

00:48:21.830 --> 00:48:27.730
This one hogan that I'm
standing in is the female hogan.

00:48:30.360 --> 00:48:35.690
Navajo, we refer to the ground
or the dirt as our mother,

00:48:35.690 --> 00:48:37.150
as a Mother Earth.

00:48:37.150 --> 00:48:39.240
And then the sky is the father.

00:48:39.240 --> 00:48:41.800
The other interpretation
is we're actually living

00:48:41.800 --> 00:48:45.180
in the earth, the earth's womb.

00:48:45.180 --> 00:48:48.250
If you look at from
that angle too,

00:48:48.250 --> 00:48:52.910
where you have the earth and
then the womb, that it has,

00:48:52.910 --> 00:48:54.230
then that's where we live.

00:48:54.230 --> 00:48:57.080
And then of course they
say that the smoke hole,

00:48:57.080 --> 00:49:00.240
that's the umbilical
cord to the sun..

00:49:00.240 --> 00:49:02.540
And then in the center,
we have the hearth,

00:49:02.540 --> 00:49:04.574
the fire, the life giver.

00:49:15.040 --> 00:49:19.120
This is what we refer to as
a crib log or a stacked log

00:49:19.120 --> 00:49:23.420
hogan, meaning that all
the way from the bottom all

00:49:23.420 --> 00:49:25.130
the way to the
top, it's stacked--

00:49:25.130 --> 00:49:28.520
stacked log or crib log.

00:49:28.520 --> 00:49:30.080
So the first log
you would set would

00:49:30.080 --> 00:49:34.980
be the one that's below the
door there on the east side.

00:49:34.980 --> 00:49:36.980
And then again, going clockwise.

00:49:36.980 --> 00:49:39.330
So the roots are going
to be on the north side.

00:49:39.330 --> 00:49:41.630
It's going to be
growing this way.

00:49:41.630 --> 00:49:42.830
So you lat that in.

00:49:42.830 --> 00:49:45.950
And then to the west,
you lay that in, too.

00:49:45.950 --> 00:49:47.980
And then to the south,
and then to the north.

00:49:47.980 --> 00:49:50.340
And then from there, you start.

00:49:50.340 --> 00:49:54.350
So the bottom log would all be
growing this way, clockwise.

00:49:54.350 --> 00:49:57.745
And then the second
layer go the opposite,

00:49:57.745 --> 00:50:02.030
and then going until you get
whatever height you want.

00:50:02.030 --> 00:50:05.530
And then from there,
we start coming in.

00:50:05.530 --> 00:50:08.860
Materials used to build
traditional hogans

00:50:08.860 --> 00:50:13.110
depended on what was
available in the area.

00:50:13.110 --> 00:50:16.380
Near the mountains, it
was more often cedar.

00:50:16.380 --> 00:50:19.150
But ponderosa pine was
also used when necessary.

00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:24.970
This multi-sided or
dome-shaped dwelling

00:50:24.970 --> 00:50:27.830
with a doorway facing
east is a place

00:50:27.830 --> 00:50:30.500
that is cherished and
respected by all Navajos.

00:50:38.040 --> 00:50:43.170
Today the hogan is still in
use all over the Navajo Nation.

00:50:43.170 --> 00:50:45.510
Modern hogans are still
built from whatever

00:50:45.510 --> 00:50:48.620
materials are available.

00:50:48.620 --> 00:50:51.580
A hogan is more than a home.

00:50:51.580 --> 00:50:54.230
Being a representation
of the universe,

00:50:54.230 --> 00:50:57.010
it is also a sacred place
for Navajo ceremonies.

00:51:16.770 --> 00:51:20.010
Richard Begay Jr., is a
young Navajo architect

00:51:20.010 --> 00:51:22.880
who has studied the buildings at
the Navajo center of government

00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:25.271
here at Window Rock.

00:51:25.271 --> 00:51:29.800
He recently designed an
expansion for these buildings.

00:51:29.800 --> 00:51:33.530
The buildings here on the
epicenter of the Navajo Nation

00:51:33.530 --> 00:51:35.200
government [? is ?] like to see.

00:51:35.200 --> 00:51:38.690
You have to a mixture
of old and the new.

00:51:38.690 --> 00:51:41.340
When I mean old and new,
I mean the older buildings

00:51:41.340 --> 00:51:43.190
you see around here
have a character that

00:51:43.190 --> 00:51:44.910
has evolved since the '30s.

00:51:44.910 --> 00:51:48.870
And that particular type of
architecture at that time

00:51:48.870 --> 00:51:52.730
was pushed by Congress
or the US government.

00:51:52.730 --> 00:51:56.320
And that was done under to
Indian Reorganization Act.

00:51:56.320 --> 00:51:59.370
And what they were
planning on doing

00:51:59.370 --> 00:52:02.990
was begin to infuse a lot
of regional architectures

00:52:02.990 --> 00:52:06.290
to area Native American tribes.

00:52:06.290 --> 00:52:08.490
The Navajo Nation was
one of those tribes

00:52:08.490 --> 00:52:13.390
that were the recipient of
that particular character.

00:52:13.390 --> 00:52:16.100
And if you look at closely,
a lot of this architecture

00:52:16.100 --> 00:52:19.220
resembles maybe Anasazi,
or if not, Pueblo,

00:52:19.220 --> 00:52:20.910
type of architecture.

00:52:20.910 --> 00:52:25.830
And you begin to look at
as that form or style merge

00:52:25.830 --> 00:52:29.890
with Navajo architecture,
it's a good attempt.

00:52:29.890 --> 00:52:30.940
It's a good gesture.

00:52:30.940 --> 00:52:34.820
But there's some Navajos who
still view this as maybe not

00:52:34.820 --> 00:52:36.500
a true Navajo form.

00:52:51.969 --> 00:52:53.800
Oh, three wire, heavy.

00:53:02.240 --> 00:53:03.420
We are Navajo people.

00:53:03.420 --> 00:53:04.440
We're [INAUDIBLE].

00:53:04.440 --> 00:53:06.510
And we do have a strong
cultural background,

00:53:06.510 --> 00:53:08.760
for a lot of our
[? ties ?] does come back

00:53:08.760 --> 00:53:12.440
to the ultimate learning
environment or tool.

00:53:12.440 --> 00:53:14.800
In this case it's
the Navajo hogan,

00:53:14.800 --> 00:53:18.780
and how we have values
that we learn from that.

00:53:18.780 --> 00:53:21.970
And what does that teach
us to think and even

00:53:21.970 --> 00:53:26.410
plan-- not only the
physicality of things,

00:53:26.410 --> 00:53:30.080
but also your spiritual
senses and emotional senses.

00:53:30.080 --> 00:53:32.790
And how do you manifest
that into maybe today's

00:53:32.790 --> 00:53:36.790
contemporary architecture is
something that I want to do.

00:53:36.790 --> 00:53:40.810
So there's a lot of
weight on that structure.

00:53:40.810 --> 00:53:42.630
And it holds up.

00:53:42.630 --> 00:53:45.365
It's just like naturally stable.

00:53:45.365 --> 00:53:48.326
It's just the way it
works with gravity.

00:53:48.326 --> 00:53:50.254
[INAUDIBLE] you
can see that one.

00:53:50.254 --> 00:53:54.540
That one looks like
a crane plywood, so.

00:53:54.540 --> 00:53:57.560
And [INAUDIBLE] modern
materials are not--

00:53:57.560 --> 00:54:00.000
they're not standing
up to the test of time

00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:02.284
compared to the old ways.

00:54:02.284 --> 00:54:03.700
When I was in
architecture school,

00:54:03.700 --> 00:54:08.470
we were taught to explore
different ways to design

00:54:08.470 --> 00:54:12.350
and even come up with our
own concepts and ideas.

00:54:12.350 --> 00:54:14.880
And once I got to my
senior capstone project,

00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:18.060
I started to influence
or even inform

00:54:18.060 --> 00:54:20.670
them of how I want
to do my building.

00:54:20.670 --> 00:54:24.780
And they were kind of
like, well, OK, Richard.

00:54:24.780 --> 00:54:26.220
They were kind of
going like this.

00:54:26.220 --> 00:54:29.310
And they were kind of going--
and what happened there is I've

00:54:29.310 --> 00:54:32.570
learned about four
years of architecture

00:54:32.570 --> 00:54:34.930
that was not Navajo style.

00:54:34.930 --> 00:54:38.950
You could probably say it was
European style of architecture

00:54:38.950 --> 00:54:41.050
that they were trying to
reinforce on students.

00:54:41.050 --> 00:54:42.055
And that's fine.

00:54:42.055 --> 00:54:44.180
I mean, there's our basic
principles that we learn.

00:54:44.180 --> 00:54:48.270
And it evolved over time into
modernism and post-modernism.

00:54:48.270 --> 00:54:50.520
And those are
great architecture.

00:54:50.520 --> 00:54:53.960
But I think what I have
is a separate layer,

00:54:53.960 --> 00:54:54.670
I would call it.

00:54:54.670 --> 00:54:57.340
And that layer is the
culture of the Navajo people.

00:54:57.340 --> 00:55:02.670
And I began to infuse some of
those ideas, if not principles,

00:55:02.670 --> 00:55:06.580
of Navajo concepts
into a building.

00:55:06.580 --> 00:55:09.830
And you could say it
almost does not follow

00:55:09.830 --> 00:55:12.920
any of the European principles.

00:55:12.920 --> 00:55:15.230
You could say it's
a Navajo building.

00:55:15.230 --> 00:55:19.410
It's almost a mixture of
landscape and enclosed spaces,

00:55:19.410 --> 00:55:22.680
where it's not so much
like a tower that pops out

00:55:22.680 --> 00:55:27.132
of a flat landscape, where
that becomes very identifiable

00:55:27.132 --> 00:55:30.110
in form and probably function.

00:55:30.110 --> 00:55:33.200
But what I see or
what I envision

00:55:33.200 --> 00:55:36.670
is something that
has a bit of both.

00:55:36.670 --> 00:55:40.300
Or it's understanding Mother
Earth, but at the same time,

00:55:40.300 --> 00:55:43.260
we're coming to
enclose ourselves

00:55:43.260 --> 00:55:48.000
to meet our functional needs for
that particular building type.

00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:51.120
The summers he spent working
at the Navajo Nation Design

00:55:51.120 --> 00:55:53.690
and Engineering
Services inspired

00:55:53.690 --> 00:55:56.680
Richard to become an architect.

00:55:56.680 --> 00:56:00.370
This department has been
around since the 1950s.

00:56:00.370 --> 00:56:04.550
Today, it provides services
to nearly 300,000 Navajos

00:56:04.550 --> 00:56:08.170
living in a widely
dispersed area.

00:56:08.170 --> 00:56:11.920
It is unique in
scale and purpose.

00:56:11.920 --> 00:56:15.130
Harrison Martin is a
designer and planner.

00:56:15.130 --> 00:56:19.260
Design engineering is a
department within the division

00:56:19.260 --> 00:56:21.600
of community development.

00:56:21.600 --> 00:56:25.610
Our department handles
all the public buildings,

00:56:25.610 --> 00:56:30.680
senior centers, head starts,
multi-purposes, chapter houses,

00:56:30.680 --> 00:56:33.250
offices.

00:56:33.250 --> 00:56:36.075
All the projects out here
today are not fully funded

00:56:36.075 --> 00:56:37.780
from the Navajo Nation.

00:56:37.780 --> 00:56:41.080
But they have to have match
funds throughout in order

00:56:41.080 --> 00:56:42.854
for these projects to happen.

00:57:01.750 --> 00:57:06.240
Our intent is to try to build
just relevant, culturally

00:57:06.240 --> 00:57:10.500
effective buildings-- not
specifically in a hogan form,

00:57:10.500 --> 00:57:14.230
but with all of its functions
that Native American

00:57:14.230 --> 00:57:16.870
and Navajo both share.

00:57:16.870 --> 00:57:20.750
So we want the clients to
be comfortable in the space

00:57:20.750 --> 00:57:22.350
that we design.

00:57:22.350 --> 00:57:27.440
And if it's successful, then
the people would cherish that,

00:57:27.440 --> 00:57:32.440
would use it, and
would protect it.

00:57:32.440 --> 00:57:34.440
Some of the more
successful designs,

00:57:34.440 --> 00:57:37.470
like this senior center,
are now being repeated

00:57:37.470 --> 00:57:40.650
at different locations.

00:57:40.650 --> 00:57:42.630
This allows the Navajo
to take advantage

00:57:42.630 --> 00:57:45.100
of economies of scale.

00:57:45.100 --> 00:57:47.320
Further economic
benefits are achieved

00:57:47.320 --> 00:57:50.240
by hiring Navajo
contractors and construction

00:57:50.240 --> 00:57:52.070
crews for all the projects.

00:57:56.500 --> 00:57:58.710
The original building
using this design

00:57:58.710 --> 00:58:01.250
was completed earlier
at another senior center

00:58:01.250 --> 00:58:02.585
in Sanostee, New Mexico.

00:58:24.960 --> 00:58:27.570
What we did was we had
meetings with the seniors

00:58:27.570 --> 00:58:28.470
and the chapter.

00:58:28.470 --> 00:58:30.260
And we looked at projects.

00:58:30.260 --> 00:58:33.320
We looked at what they wanted.

00:58:33.320 --> 00:58:36.750
All the elders wanted a
round building, a hogan form

00:58:36.750 --> 00:58:37.720
building.

00:58:37.720 --> 00:58:41.870
That was their primary request.

00:58:41.870 --> 00:58:45.330
And we told them that it's
probably not realistic,

00:58:45.330 --> 00:58:47.210
but we'll make that
attempt and we'll

00:58:47.210 --> 00:58:50.190
try to put in culturally
relevant material

00:58:50.190 --> 00:58:51.990
into the project.

00:58:51.990 --> 00:58:55.530
And what we had tried to
do, instead of just putting

00:58:55.530 --> 00:58:57.830
a design around the
building or just

00:58:57.830 --> 00:59:00.220
paint here and there to make
it look Native American,

00:59:00.220 --> 00:59:03.850
we tried to integrate
huge portions of it

00:59:03.850 --> 00:59:06.900
so it could not be taken
away from the construction

00:59:06.900 --> 00:59:10.180
or the design of the building
when it was completed.

00:59:10.180 --> 00:59:13.630
So here, we put the
walls, the rug pattern,

00:59:13.630 --> 00:59:18.740
the textures of
the concrete blocks

00:59:18.740 --> 00:59:21.200
that represent
Navajo rugs, and also

00:59:21.200 --> 00:59:30.180
the corn stalk symbol
in our security windows.

00:59:30.180 --> 00:59:32.700
Instead of looking like
bars, what we wanted to do

00:59:32.700 --> 00:59:35.740
was just look at
the [INAUDIBLE].

00:59:35.740 --> 00:59:39.160
So we worked that
extra night start

00:59:39.160 --> 00:59:42.340
implementing Navajo
architecture, Navajo design,

00:59:42.340 --> 00:59:44.470
and then just the
patterns that elders

00:59:44.470 --> 00:59:48.430
would be accustomed to
seeing, and just feeling

00:59:48.430 --> 00:59:49.468
at home with it.

00:59:55.330 --> 00:59:59.600
This room is the
multi-purpose room.

00:59:59.600 --> 01:00:04.360
And it represents the
hogan form that has

01:00:04.360 --> 01:00:08.336
its vaulted roofs, a skylight.

01:00:08.336 --> 01:00:15.190
And there's no opening to
the west, because culturally,

01:00:15.190 --> 01:00:17.990
that opening is only
for the east portion.

01:00:17.990 --> 01:00:26.303
So we did all of the parts
that Navajo culture have us do.

01:00:41.010 --> 01:00:43.420
It seems like through
history, all the building

01:00:43.420 --> 01:00:47.690
types for Native American
or the indigenous people

01:00:47.690 --> 01:00:52.630
in North and South America, they
seem to have frozen in time.

01:00:52.630 --> 01:00:56.110
And that time was
approximately 400 years ago.

01:00:56.110 --> 01:00:58.890
No buildings were
encouraged to continue.

01:00:58.890 --> 01:01:00.900
So the question
is, what would have

01:01:00.900 --> 01:01:06.380
happened if that development
continued over 400 years?

01:01:06.380 --> 01:01:10.620
Would we have the longhouse
skyscrapers today?

01:01:10.620 --> 01:01:15.105
Would we have larger buildings,
almost similar to Chaco Canyon?

01:01:15.105 --> 01:01:18.370
But today, all those
answers are unknown.

01:01:18.370 --> 01:01:23.960
And we have to explore
that, and over time possibly

01:01:23.960 --> 01:01:27.650
get to what Native American
architecture is today.

01:01:27.650 --> 01:01:32.790
And it's going to take
an evolution of time that

01:01:32.790 --> 01:01:36.445
can't be smashed into a few
years, since its 400 years

01:01:36.445 --> 01:01:36.945
long.

01:01:56.430 --> 01:01:59.710
The mighty Fraser River
of British Columbia

01:01:59.710 --> 01:02:03.150
links inland waterways
to the Pacific Ocean.

01:02:03.150 --> 01:02:06.690
This broad river valley
and fertile floodplain

01:02:06.690 --> 01:02:09.690
is an important area for
industry, agriculture,

01:02:09.690 --> 01:02:11.320
and tourism.

01:02:11.320 --> 01:02:15.770
10,000 years ago, the Sto:lo,
one of the coast Salish

01:02:15.770 --> 01:02:19.790
peoples, lived along this river,
relying on the salmon that

01:02:19.790 --> 01:02:21.870
traveled these waters.

01:02:21.870 --> 01:02:24.810
It is the place where some of
the oldest houses in Canada

01:02:24.810 --> 01:02:26.176
have been found.

01:02:39.080 --> 01:02:41.470
The first of these ancient
sites was discovered

01:02:41.470 --> 01:02:43.030
through a transformer stone.

01:02:46.230 --> 01:02:49.970
According to Sto:lo history,
some of their ancestors were

01:02:49.970 --> 01:02:51.620
transformed into these stones.

01:02:54.470 --> 01:02:57.730
There are stories that
surround each transformation.

01:02:57.730 --> 01:03:02.570
And the stones are usually
found near ancient settlements.

01:03:02.570 --> 01:03:06.170
And archaeologists working with
the Sto:lo found and identified

01:03:06.170 --> 01:03:08.650
this rock is a
transformer stone,

01:03:08.650 --> 01:03:11.960
first by the thousands of
artifacts near its base,

01:03:11.960 --> 01:03:14.350
and then by researching
the story that goes with

01:03:14.350 --> 01:03:16.880
the transformation.

01:03:16.880 --> 01:03:20.020
According to legend,
the stone was once

01:03:20.020 --> 01:03:22.780
a man who failed to pass
the gift of learning

01:03:22.780 --> 01:03:24.183
on to the rest of his people.

01:03:32.890 --> 01:03:36.930
Today, the Xa:ytem culture
center stands at this site

01:03:36.930 --> 01:03:40.650
to preserve and share
the Sto:lo culture.

01:03:40.650 --> 01:03:44.280
Two traditional-style pit
houses were built near this site

01:03:44.280 --> 01:03:47.160
to give people a sense of
what life in the old houses

01:03:47.160 --> 01:03:48.944
might have been like.

01:03:48.944 --> 01:03:51.110
Now, traditionally they
would have four fires, three

01:03:51.110 --> 01:03:52.484
or four firs,
around the outside,

01:03:52.484 --> 01:03:55.010
about a quarter of
the size of this, OK?

01:03:55.010 --> 01:03:56.279
Not this big in the middle.

01:03:56.279 --> 01:03:58.320
If you were to light this
in here, it would burn.

01:03:58.320 --> 01:04:00.870
It would catch fire.

01:04:00.870 --> 01:04:04.100
It's much too big, and it
would be too smoky as well.

01:04:04.100 --> 01:04:06.100
They'd make a smaller fire.

01:04:06.100 --> 01:04:08.472
And the smoke would
go out the roof.

01:04:08.472 --> 01:04:10.620
Now, these pit houses
helped for that.

01:04:10.620 --> 01:04:12.740
They'd live them in the
wintertime-- much more

01:04:12.740 --> 01:04:13.730
efficient to heat this.

01:04:13.730 --> 01:04:15.520
It stays cool in summer.

01:04:15.520 --> 01:04:18.380
And in the winter time, it's
going to heat up really easy.

01:04:18.380 --> 01:04:22.530
So these homes were very
functional, very important.

01:04:22.530 --> 01:04:24.700
But I'd like to sing this song.

01:04:24.700 --> 01:04:28.720
And this song pays tribute
to the earth that we walk on.

01:04:28.720 --> 01:04:31.460
It pays tribute to
the sun and the sky.

01:04:31.460 --> 01:04:34.190
It pays tribute to
the wind that blows.

01:04:34.190 --> 01:04:36.280
But i also pays tribute,
most importantly,

01:04:36.280 --> 01:04:39.886
to everything that we
take from the earth.

01:04:39.886 --> 01:04:43.204
[SINGING]

01:05:04.590 --> 01:05:07.280
Patrick Stewart is
a Nisga'a architect,

01:05:07.280 --> 01:05:10.340
who in addition to
designing modern buildings,

01:05:10.340 --> 01:05:13.010
took on the task of building
these traditional-looking pit

01:05:13.010 --> 01:05:16.130
houses at the request
of Linnea Battel,

01:05:16.130 --> 01:05:19.640
a Sto:lo Nation woman who's
been the driving force behind

01:05:19.640 --> 01:05:23.680
the establishment of
the culture center.

01:05:23.680 --> 01:05:27.700
Pit houses were dwellings that
were built partly underground

01:05:27.700 --> 01:05:32.945
and were most often circular
with a dome-shaped roof.

01:05:32.945 --> 01:05:34.880
Oh, cool in here.

01:05:34.880 --> 01:05:38.050
The pit houses were built in
valleys of principal rivers,

01:05:38.050 --> 01:05:40.160
close to water, and
were large enough

01:05:40.160 --> 01:05:42.830
for groups of related families.

01:05:42.830 --> 01:05:44.900
The original
archaeological discovery

01:05:44.900 --> 01:05:48.560
was the catalyst for
funding and public support.

01:05:48.560 --> 01:05:51.990
The transformer stone story
was Linnea inspiration

01:05:51.990 --> 01:05:54.560
to discover and share
the ancient knowledge

01:05:54.560 --> 01:05:55.740
of her people.

01:05:55.740 --> 01:05:58.220
Linnea had given us
quite a bit of research

01:05:58.220 --> 01:06:02.160
that was done on pit houses,
because nobody had built

01:06:02.160 --> 01:06:04.920
one for this purpose before.

01:06:04.920 --> 01:06:07.280
So we have concrete.

01:06:07.280 --> 01:06:08.857
We have steel.

01:06:08.857 --> 01:06:10.065
We've got proper foundations.

01:06:10.065 --> 01:06:12.150
We've got perimeter drainage.

01:06:12.150 --> 01:06:15.240
I mean, none of that
stuff is very traditional.

01:06:15.240 --> 01:06:16.850
But it's here.

01:06:16.850 --> 01:06:18.800
You can't tell when you come in.

01:06:18.800 --> 01:06:23.420
People look at this and say,
it's a traditional pit house.

01:06:23.420 --> 01:06:29.140
And we're able to cover it
and present this interior

01:06:29.140 --> 01:06:31.810
for everybody that comes in.

01:06:31.810 --> 01:06:35.270
And I think we get a good
sense of what it like.

01:06:42.210 --> 01:06:44.810
We were given a
little bit of freedom

01:06:44.810 --> 01:06:47.470
in terms of the actual
structural design.

01:06:47.470 --> 01:06:52.590
Because like I say, there
wasn't another example like this

01:06:52.590 --> 01:06:53.767
to follow.

01:06:53.767 --> 01:06:54.850
We had looked at Chehalis.

01:06:54.850 --> 01:06:57.020
And we had looked at some
of the other pit houses.

01:06:57.020 --> 01:07:00.700
But they're built
differently, so the details

01:07:00.700 --> 01:07:03.290
would be different.

01:07:03.290 --> 01:07:06.570
But as you go up and
down from the interior BC

01:07:06.570 --> 01:07:08.780
down to the coast,
there's enough difference

01:07:08.780 --> 01:07:10.940
in how they were
traditionally done.

01:07:10.940 --> 01:07:14.400
We felt justified in OK, if
this is different than everybody

01:07:14.400 --> 01:07:15.380
else, it's OK.

01:07:15.380 --> 01:07:18.285
And here we said it's all
cedar, because cedar is

01:07:18.285 --> 01:07:19.570
such a big part of our story.

01:07:19.570 --> 01:07:21.070
Or traditionally,
they wouldn't have

01:07:21.070 --> 01:07:22.370
made it all cedar or whatever.

01:07:22.370 --> 01:07:22.970
No, no.

01:07:22.970 --> 01:07:24.390
That's what would happen is
the women would stay behind

01:07:24.390 --> 01:07:26.080
and they would dig the whole.

01:07:26.080 --> 01:07:27.980
And the men would go
out and get the timbers.

01:07:27.980 --> 01:07:31.490
And they would pick up
whatever was handy around there

01:07:31.490 --> 01:07:34.800
and was easy to
drag to the site.

01:07:34.800 --> 01:07:36.550
But it wouldn't just be cedar.

01:07:36.550 --> 01:07:40.117
But here, we want [INAUDIBLE]
to have that [INAUDIBLE].

01:07:40.117 --> 01:07:42.200
The elders come in here,
and they want to move in.

01:07:42.200 --> 01:07:44.060
They want to lock
that door and move in.

01:07:44.060 --> 01:07:46.143
Then they look around
going, where's the bathroom?

01:07:46.143 --> 01:07:47.415
[LAUGHTER]

01:07:47.415 --> 01:07:48.540
That was the biggest worry.

01:07:48.540 --> 01:07:49.915
You could always
get food, right?

01:07:56.700 --> 01:08:01.270
The Sto:lo Nation continues
to work with archaeologists.

01:08:01.270 --> 01:08:04.110
More sites have been found
throughout the area that is now

01:08:04.110 --> 01:08:08.158
being claimed by
the Sto:lo people.

01:08:08.158 --> 01:08:10.650
Everything in the [INAUDIBLE].
[? You don't know-- ?]

01:08:10.650 --> 01:08:14.300
Each new site with its
discovery of ancient houses

01:08:14.300 --> 01:08:16.410
is proof that they've
always been here

01:08:16.410 --> 01:08:18.990
and supports their
claim to this land.

01:08:18.990 --> 01:08:21.340
[CHATTER]

01:08:25.109 --> 01:08:28.528
So I'm very excited, if this
is in fact an old house,

01:08:28.528 --> 01:08:30.069
and I think it is
from the artifacts.

01:08:30.069 --> 01:08:32.479
We're talking about
5,000, 6,000, 7,000,

01:08:32.479 --> 01:08:34.620
maybe as young as
4,000 years old.

01:08:34.620 --> 01:08:37.074
And we see it being square-ish.

01:08:37.074 --> 01:08:39.490
Then we start thinking, oh,
so that's kind of interesting.

01:08:39.490 --> 01:08:40.649
It's very different
than what people

01:08:40.649 --> 01:08:43.148
are doing in [INAUDIBLE] and
[INAUDIBLE], and very different

01:08:43.148 --> 01:08:46.250
again than what we see right
at mouth of the Fraser.

01:08:46.250 --> 01:08:50.745
A lot of my work depends
on what people know.

01:08:50.745 --> 01:08:54.500
And that's sort of the
essence of how I design.

01:08:54.500 --> 01:08:59.710
If I have a client that
doesn't have information

01:08:59.710 --> 01:09:05.470
to feed into me, then I
find it very hard to design,

01:09:05.470 --> 01:09:07.510
because it's not my building.

01:09:07.510 --> 01:09:11.680
I facilitate design, but
I don't make assumptions

01:09:11.680 --> 01:09:14.660
on what this
thing's going to be.

01:09:14.660 --> 01:09:18.490
So to me, information
is everything.

01:09:18.490 --> 01:09:21.304
And this very
clearly a post hole.

01:09:21.304 --> 01:09:24.590
This is the post hole
of substantial size.

01:09:24.590 --> 01:09:26.595
This is not the kind
of post you just would

01:09:26.595 --> 01:09:27.779
have in a little structure.

01:09:27.779 --> 01:09:29.229
Mhm.

01:09:29.229 --> 01:09:31.760
So here we are in the day before
we're supposed to close up

01:09:31.760 --> 01:09:36.350
and we find a post that's more
in line with a big structure.

01:09:36.350 --> 01:09:39.294
This morning, I guess
being out in the dig site,

01:09:39.294 --> 01:09:43.130
it was exciting because
it's new information.

01:09:43.130 --> 01:09:45.560
It's stuff that, well,
I didn't know before.

01:09:45.560 --> 01:09:48.649
But I could also see
immediately how could it

01:09:48.649 --> 01:09:50.985
apply to new projects.

01:09:50.985 --> 01:09:53.080
How could it apply
in the community?

01:09:53.080 --> 01:09:56.850
What impact it could have even
on a site that's established

01:09:56.850 --> 01:09:59.000
like [INAUDIBLE] here.

01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:03.290
Because when you're interpreting
the culture like, say,

01:10:03.290 --> 01:10:06.500
this site does,
people are coming,

01:10:06.500 --> 01:10:07.631
looking for information.

01:10:07.631 --> 01:10:08.880
They're looking for knowledge.

01:10:08.880 --> 01:10:11.130
They're looking for the history.

01:10:11.130 --> 01:10:13.950
People get really
animated and excited when

01:10:13.950 --> 01:10:18.640
they see stuff that
has been uncovered,

01:10:18.640 --> 01:10:24.946
because maybe we'll get a chance
to build something like it.

01:10:24.946 --> 01:10:26.840
And that's quite neat.

01:10:26.840 --> 01:10:29.640
I think it's good
for the culture.

01:10:29.640 --> 01:10:33.760
People in the
communities get to know,

01:10:33.760 --> 01:10:35.630
because a lot of
that information's

01:10:35.630 --> 01:10:39.740
been buried for how
many thousands of years.

01:10:39.740 --> 01:10:42.240
Patrick's architectural
practice is often less

01:10:42.240 --> 01:10:46.270
about the designer than it
is about context, research,

01:10:46.270 --> 01:10:49.215
and collaboration when working
with First Nations communities.

01:10:53.760 --> 01:10:58.030
There's been changes
in this generation,

01:10:58.030 --> 01:11:04.740
where communities have
more say in what they do

01:11:04.740 --> 01:11:06.420
and how they do it.

01:11:06.420 --> 01:11:10.720
Not to say that they
get to do everything

01:11:10.720 --> 01:11:14.970
that they're wanting to do,
because there are still limits

01:11:14.970 --> 01:11:17.110
placed on the communities.

01:11:17.110 --> 01:11:19.170
You're just looking
for feedback right now.

01:11:19.170 --> 01:11:20.960
Looking for feedback
and direction,

01:11:20.960 --> 01:11:25.130
but in terms of if there's a
schedule somebody has in mind,

01:11:25.130 --> 01:11:27.130
it would be good if I knew.

01:11:27.130 --> 01:11:31.082
That way, if somebody
says come April 1

01:11:31.082 --> 01:11:32.165
next year, we want to be--

01:11:32.165 --> 01:11:34.289
Well, we want it done by
Christmas, actually, but--

01:11:34.289 --> 01:11:36.030
[LAUGHTER]

01:11:36.520 --> 01:11:37.020
No.

01:11:37.020 --> 01:11:38.690
We'll build [INAUDIBLE].

01:11:38.690 --> 01:11:43.820
But I think it's also new
where communities have access

01:11:43.820 --> 01:11:47.505
to First Nations consultants.

01:11:47.505 --> 01:11:51.910
A generation ago, it wouldn't
really have been possible.

01:11:51.910 --> 01:11:54.031
A lot of that has
to do with changes

01:11:54.031 --> 01:11:55.780
in the Indian Act,
people being able to go

01:11:55.780 --> 01:11:57.885
to university and all that.

01:11:57.885 --> 01:12:03.960
So that's made quite an impact.

01:12:03.960 --> 01:12:07.530
Architecture is still,
though, very new

01:12:07.530 --> 01:12:12.140
as far as a profession
in the communities.

01:12:12.140 --> 01:12:15.366
There's very few practitioners.

01:12:15.366 --> 01:12:18.310
But it's growing.

01:12:18.310 --> 01:12:21.500
But it's not yet at
the level that, say,

01:12:21.500 --> 01:12:24.730
the teaching or the
legal profession or even

01:12:24.730 --> 01:12:29.370
the medical profession
is at in the communities.

01:12:29.370 --> 01:12:33.550
But I find that the
communities I do work with

01:12:33.550 --> 01:12:38.200
are communities that have made
a specific decision to work

01:12:38.200 --> 01:12:40.710
with First Nations consultants.

01:12:40.710 --> 01:12:42.195
And that makes all
the difference.

01:12:59.420 --> 01:13:01.400
[BOAT HORN]

01:13:12.320 --> 01:13:15.520
[? On the ?] Pacific Northwest
in the city of Vancouver

01:13:15.520 --> 01:13:17.830
are recreations of
the last Haida houses.

01:13:26.000 --> 01:13:28.050
They were constructed
by Haida artists

01:13:28.050 --> 01:13:30.620
for the Museum of
Anthropology based

01:13:30.620 --> 01:13:33.418
on the last standing house
frames on the Queen Charlotte

01:13:33.418 --> 01:13:33.918
Islands.

01:13:47.100 --> 01:13:50.900
Jim Hart, a Haida
hereditary chief and carver,

01:13:50.900 --> 01:13:55.090
was an apprentice on that
project 40 years ago.

01:13:55.090 --> 01:13:57.770
Gina Mae Schubert is a
Haida designer studying

01:13:57.770 --> 01:14:00.440
the architecture of her people.

01:14:00.440 --> 01:14:06.260
What we're looking at here
is a miniature Haida village.

01:14:06.260 --> 01:14:09.100
And we have everything
in-- what you

01:14:09.100 --> 01:14:12.570
see here is what you would
see in the olden days

01:14:12.570 --> 01:14:14.780
and in old Haida villages.

01:14:14.780 --> 01:14:17.910
See, the village
would face the water.

01:14:17.910 --> 01:14:20.630
And then as a
visitor, you'd come

01:14:20.630 --> 01:14:22.540
paddling up to the village.

01:14:22.540 --> 01:14:24.410
And you'd see the totem poles.

01:14:24.410 --> 01:14:26.340
And you'd see the totem pole.

01:14:26.340 --> 01:14:32.340
You'd read the pole bottom up,
that who lived in what house.

01:14:32.340 --> 01:14:34.570
And you knew exactly what
house you wanted to go see.

01:14:34.570 --> 01:14:37.550
And then you'd pull up in front
of that house with your canoe.

01:14:37.550 --> 01:14:40.430
It it's a ceremonial
event, there'd

01:14:40.430 --> 01:14:44.410
be some ceremony involved,
and greeting each other,

01:14:44.410 --> 01:14:47.045
and some speeches
and dancing and such.

01:14:47.045 --> 01:14:50.182
And then you'd make your
way up to that house.

01:14:56.790 --> 01:15:00.040
The Haida house was the
center of your world, center

01:15:00.040 --> 01:15:02.870
those people's world
that lived in that house.

01:15:02.870 --> 01:15:07.230
The house next door, that's
the center of their world.

01:15:07.230 --> 01:15:10.640
See, we have totem poles,
and that's our door.

01:15:10.640 --> 01:15:15.010
It was, in the old times, we had
a whole cut through the totem

01:15:15.010 --> 01:15:18.289
pole, and that was your
entrance to the house.

01:15:18.289 --> 01:15:19.455
And they were usually lower.

01:15:19.455 --> 01:15:21.320
And you had to crouch
down to climb through.

01:15:21.320 --> 01:15:23.580
And that was a
defensive thing, so

01:15:23.580 --> 01:15:29.280
that if anybody came to do
harm to the people inside,

01:15:29.280 --> 01:15:31.414
they'd have to crouch
down to go through.

01:15:31.414 --> 01:15:33.830
And so when you're doing that,
you're kind of defenseless.

01:15:33.830 --> 01:15:35.760
You're more in an off position.

01:15:35.760 --> 01:15:38.697
So they'd just wait inside
and conk you on the head

01:15:38.697 --> 01:15:40.140
as you're coming through.

01:15:40.140 --> 01:15:44.610
And so we heard stories about
that and how that worked.

01:15:44.610 --> 01:15:49.750
So you get to the art, that's my
connection to the spirit world.

01:15:49.750 --> 01:15:54.350
The spirits are around us all
the time, never leaving us.

01:15:54.350 --> 01:15:57.860
And when we did stop, it was
always with that in mind.

01:15:57.860 --> 01:15:59.670
And they were
there with us-- us,

01:15:59.670 --> 01:16:01.574
the carvers who carved them.

01:16:01.574 --> 01:16:03.740
So we knew what they look
like, and we'd carve them.

01:16:03.740 --> 01:16:05.400
And they're there.

01:16:05.400 --> 01:16:09.790
This is what we
know they look like.

01:16:09.790 --> 01:16:11.510
Of course, we had
to choose styles.

01:16:11.510 --> 01:16:14.400
We had the two-beam
and the six-beam style.

01:16:14.400 --> 01:16:19.610
And that's two major differences
in structure, especially roof

01:16:19.610 --> 01:16:23.180
structure and how you want
to handle your beams outside

01:16:23.180 --> 01:16:24.930
and stuff.

01:16:24.930 --> 01:16:29.770
For a six-beam house, the four
corner posts are set in place,

01:16:29.770 --> 01:16:34.060
and then wall seals are
added around the bottom.

01:16:34.060 --> 01:16:36.460
Sloping fascia
beams are inserted

01:16:36.460 --> 01:16:39.380
into corner post slots.

01:16:39.380 --> 01:16:42.980
Two central columns, one on
either side of the door pole,

01:16:42.980 --> 01:16:46.070
support the fascia beams.

01:16:46.070 --> 01:16:48.630
The roof is supported
by six large beams,

01:16:48.630 --> 01:16:51.685
or purlins, that are set
on top of the fascia beams.

01:16:54.270 --> 01:16:58.020
Wall planks are
inserted into the sill,

01:16:58.020 --> 01:17:00.210
the roof planks placed
on top of the purlins.

01:17:05.080 --> 01:17:08.020
For a two-beam house,
the central columns

01:17:08.020 --> 01:17:10.830
are inside the building.

01:17:10.830 --> 01:17:13.810
The two purlin beams rest
on the central columns,

01:17:13.810 --> 01:17:17.460
rather than on top
of the fascia beams.

01:17:17.460 --> 01:17:19.950
In the time of old
growth forests,

01:17:19.950 --> 01:17:22.780
Haida houses could be as
enormous as the trees that

01:17:22.780 --> 01:17:23.852
grew around them.

01:17:27.470 --> 01:17:29.400
The rainforest
climate that promotes

01:17:29.400 --> 01:17:32.950
the growth of huge trees
also creates problems

01:17:32.950 --> 01:17:36.360
of decay in the buildings.

01:17:36.360 --> 01:17:40.600
Cedar is a durable material,
but carpenter ants and termites

01:17:40.600 --> 01:17:43.589
are getting into the main
beams of a house at the museum.

01:17:49.270 --> 01:17:52.866
Gina Mae is working with Jim
on plans for a new Haida house.

01:17:58.110 --> 01:17:59.260
It's not a restoration.

01:17:59.260 --> 01:18:01.580
It's actually a
new construction.

01:18:01.580 --> 01:18:06.942
and these plans are
overviewed by Chief Jim Hart.

01:18:06.942 --> 01:18:11.580
And they hope to be replacing
the Haida house that's

01:18:11.580 --> 01:18:14.570
deteriorating outside.

01:18:14.570 --> 01:18:17.765
Some of them are
big, big, big houses.

01:18:17.765 --> 01:18:20.740
And we call them
Haida big houses.

01:18:20.740 --> 01:18:23.610
And some of them are big so
that they could house or hold

01:18:23.610 --> 01:18:27.540
a lot of people
at a feast, so we

01:18:27.540 --> 01:18:31.610
could bring in a lot of guests
and do your performances

01:18:31.610 --> 01:18:35.561
and feed them, and witnessing
the different events that's

01:18:35.561 --> 01:18:36.543
taking place.

01:18:43.920 --> 01:18:48.290
The Queen Charlotte Islands,
also known as Haida Guawii,

01:18:48.290 --> 01:18:52.110
are located off the shores
of British Columbia.

01:18:52.110 --> 01:18:54.320
This is the homeland
of the Haida Nation.

01:18:57.040 --> 01:19:00.990
Towering above the forest
floor, the ancient cedar tree

01:19:00.990 --> 01:19:06.640
is one of Haida Guawii's most
impressive and inspiring sites.

01:19:06.640 --> 01:19:09.650
Today, cedar is still an
important part of the Haida

01:19:09.650 --> 01:19:11.710
culture, economy, and society.

01:19:20.380 --> 01:19:22.270
Cedar was the
foundation upon which

01:19:22.270 --> 01:19:25.470
the Haida society was built
and is the most favored

01:19:25.470 --> 01:19:26.388
carving material.

01:19:30.870 --> 01:19:35.000
This is the land of
eagles and ravens.

01:19:35.000 --> 01:19:38.040
It is where the Haida
people have always lived,

01:19:38.040 --> 01:19:40.325
on a narrow strip of
beach between the ocean

01:19:40.325 --> 01:19:41.556
and the forest.

01:19:49.690 --> 01:19:53.200
Gina Mae's design
research is also personal.

01:19:53.200 --> 01:19:57.039
She dreams of building her own
Haida house along this beach.

01:20:01.210 --> 01:20:04.450
Well, I went to school
in New York City.

01:20:04.450 --> 01:20:08.850
And I started
studying architecture.

01:20:08.850 --> 01:20:11.670
And what I realized
was that there's

01:20:11.670 --> 01:20:18.850
so much written about
Europe and old Europe,

01:20:18.850 --> 01:20:23.810
even starting with the Egyptians
and the Romans and the Greeks,

01:20:23.810 --> 01:20:29.680
and realized that we have
amazing architecture at home.

01:20:29.680 --> 01:20:35.941
So I started investigating more
and writing more and studying

01:20:35.941 --> 01:20:36.440
more.

01:20:36.440 --> 01:20:38.270
And I found out
as much as I could

01:20:38.270 --> 01:20:40.760
about my own architecture.

01:20:40.760 --> 01:20:43.650
There needs to be more
knowledge out there

01:20:43.650 --> 01:20:46.580
about our own
ancient architecture.

01:20:46.580 --> 01:20:48.130
And we need to learn about it.

01:20:48.130 --> 01:20:50.030
And designers and
architects need

01:20:50.030 --> 01:20:57.340
to learn about it so that they
can revive that ancient craft.

01:20:57.340 --> 01:21:00.200
It's like it's really
nice to have them.

01:21:00.200 --> 01:21:04.290
Building one myself here, I
realized once you break away

01:21:04.290 --> 01:21:08.320
from conventional style
structures and you start making

01:21:08.320 --> 01:21:09.830
beams, making them round.

01:21:09.830 --> 01:21:13.700
You make your corner posts,
square them off, cutting holes

01:21:13.700 --> 01:21:15.810
through for other
beams to fit into,

01:21:15.810 --> 01:21:17.990
fitting things together,
and setting it all up.

01:21:17.990 --> 01:21:19.698
And then you key
everything else into it.

01:21:19.698 --> 01:21:23.350
It takes a lot of work,
a lot of man hours.

01:21:23.350 --> 01:21:26.210
It doesn't look like
it, but really it does.

01:21:26.210 --> 01:21:28.250
You're breaking away from
the conventional style

01:21:28.250 --> 01:21:29.140
of construction.

01:21:29.140 --> 01:21:33.630
And once you do that,
things change, time changes.

01:21:33.630 --> 01:21:36.004
But you feel so
good about doing it.

01:21:36.004 --> 01:21:36.868
It's amazing.

01:21:36.868 --> 01:21:39.120
And you just feel like going on.

01:21:39.120 --> 01:21:40.630
And people are excited.

01:21:40.630 --> 01:21:42.530
You're not building
a normal structure.

01:21:42.530 --> 01:21:44.870
You're building a
Haida structure.

01:21:44.870 --> 01:21:48.080
And so there's more people
wanting to do that today,

01:21:48.080 --> 01:21:48.928
and it's happening.

01:21:58.690 --> 01:22:02.860
In keeping with Haida culture,
most contemporary Haida houses

01:22:02.860 --> 01:22:06.430
are family homes rather
than public buildings.

01:22:06.430 --> 01:22:10.650
We do have a tradition
that we could draw upon

01:22:10.650 --> 01:22:12.420
and should be drawing upon.

01:22:12.420 --> 01:22:19.330
It's the architecture of the
old people is pretty remarkable.

01:22:19.330 --> 01:22:21.890
And the canoes that
were made is something

01:22:21.890 --> 01:22:24.300
that we should be proud of.

01:22:24.300 --> 01:22:27.010
And in a case like
this, it's actually

01:22:27.010 --> 01:22:29.920
quite structurally
a solid building.

01:22:29.920 --> 01:22:31.550
So this porch out
here, I don't ever

01:22:31.550 --> 01:22:34.650
have to worry about having too
many people up on the deck that

01:22:34.650 --> 01:22:37.650
might fall or anything.

01:22:37.650 --> 01:22:42.900
And with the kids, it
provides a big playground.

01:22:42.900 --> 01:22:45.840
So this house is built
over a couple of years.

01:22:45.840 --> 01:22:50.330
It's just what I could afford,
and adding on, and getting

01:22:50.330 --> 01:22:55.243
it a little closer-- still,
actually under construction.

01:22:55.243 --> 01:22:56.626
[LAUGHTER]

01:22:56.626 --> 01:22:57.840
It's OK.

01:22:57.840 --> 01:22:58.980
Every house is.

01:22:58.980 --> 01:23:00.860
Yeah.

01:23:00.860 --> 01:23:04.780
So a few changes, but
basically the timbers

01:23:04.780 --> 01:23:08.150
are cut to tradition.

01:23:08.150 --> 01:23:13.660
One obvious change here is
that it's a two-story house.

01:23:13.660 --> 01:23:17.858
And so there are some things you
have to adapt to work to that.

01:23:26.290 --> 01:23:29.100
In the olden days, a
corner post would go up.

01:23:29.100 --> 01:23:33.760
And the post would be slid
in and then raised like this,

01:23:33.760 --> 01:23:37.140
so you have extra
room on each side.

01:23:37.140 --> 01:23:40.760
Nowadays, people try to
cut them quite precisely.

01:23:40.760 --> 01:23:43.470
But you have to raise
it from the top.

01:23:43.470 --> 01:23:47.030
And so it's not so hard
now with a good [INAUDIBLE]

01:23:47.030 --> 01:23:48.320
or something to do that.

01:23:48.320 --> 01:23:52.770
But in the olden
days here, you're

01:23:52.770 --> 01:23:56.840
using a lot of fancy winching
and stuff, human power.

01:24:03.340 --> 01:24:06.730
The loss of Haida
architectural art to climate

01:24:06.730 --> 01:24:07.775
has left few remains.

01:24:10.890 --> 01:24:13.150
Because no old
buildings survive,

01:24:13.150 --> 01:24:16.411
the Haida rely on photos to
help them research construction

01:24:16.411 --> 01:24:16.911
techniques.

01:24:26.740 --> 01:24:30.540
Elders, like Gina Mae's uncle,
help interpret old photos

01:24:30.540 --> 01:24:33.930
using their own family
experiences and memories.

01:24:33.930 --> 01:24:37.430
The house could be very
quickly dismantled.

01:24:37.430 --> 01:24:42.460
We'd put two large war canoes
on the beach, pile on the planks

01:24:42.460 --> 01:24:47.820
on like a big catamaran, pile
all the worldly possessions on,

01:24:47.820 --> 01:24:51.750
and paddle to our summer fishing
camps or hunting camps or work

01:24:51.750 --> 01:24:53.170
camps.

01:24:53.170 --> 01:24:57.570
And in the fall, we would come
back and reassemble the house

01:24:57.570 --> 01:24:58.320
very quickly.

01:24:58.320 --> 01:25:00.734
And we'd live in it all winter.

01:25:04.350 --> 01:25:10.036
We could make a beam 4
feet high, 6 inches wide,

01:25:10.036 --> 01:25:13.216
and 40 or 50 feet
long could run easily.

01:25:13.216 --> 01:25:15.090
What we'd do is we'd
find a nice [INAUDIBLE].

01:25:15.090 --> 01:25:16.756
Old [? man ?] would
walk into the forest

01:25:16.756 --> 01:25:19.870
and he'd bang on a tree.

01:25:19.870 --> 01:25:23.482
And he could tell immediately
whether it was sound or not.

01:25:23.482 --> 01:25:26.720
And the younger people had
to make test holes into it

01:25:26.720 --> 01:25:28.776
to see whether the
cedar was rotten or not,

01:25:28.776 --> 01:25:31.878
but an old man could
just bang the tree.

01:25:31.878 --> 01:25:35.150
And then we'd fell
the tree with fire.

01:25:35.150 --> 01:25:38.590
And then we would use wedges
to make the smaller planks.

01:25:38.590 --> 01:25:40.550
A little [? firmer ?].

01:25:40.550 --> 01:25:45.170
Haida homes were very
well constructed.

01:25:45.170 --> 01:25:47.370
The people used many
different tools,

01:25:47.370 --> 01:25:50.100
including sledge
hammers, hand mauls,

01:25:50.100 --> 01:25:53.020
and wedges to split the
cedar logs to make planks.

01:25:56.240 --> 01:25:59.870
Unlike milled cedar,
wood split in the old way

01:25:59.870 --> 01:26:03.000
makes stronger planks, because
it follows the natural grain

01:26:03.000 --> 01:26:05.490
of the wood, which
reduces infiltration

01:26:05.490 --> 01:26:07.031
by insects and moisture.

01:26:07.031 --> 01:26:07.531
Oh!

01:26:07.531 --> 01:26:08.974
[LAUGHTER]

01:26:15.230 --> 01:26:19.330
I could see Haida architecture
becoming really elaborate.

01:26:19.330 --> 01:26:23.540
And in my mind, it
is very elaborate.

01:26:23.540 --> 01:26:26.140
Everybody does it a
little bit differently.

01:26:26.140 --> 01:26:27.670
There's some variation.

01:26:27.670 --> 01:26:30.980
I think there's some
beautiful specimens

01:26:30.980 --> 01:26:34.100
Haida-wide that people
can start following.

01:26:34.100 --> 01:26:36.030
I think it's just formulating.

01:26:36.030 --> 01:26:39.370
Some of us are building
our own Haida houses

01:26:39.370 --> 01:26:41.000
and we're learning as we go.

01:26:41.000 --> 01:26:46.420
And before that, it
was their grandparents.

01:26:46.420 --> 01:26:51.840
So it's our generation
that's coming into it.

01:26:55.990 --> 01:26:59.130
I thought about a traditional
house, and didn't think myself

01:26:59.130 --> 01:27:00.910
it was going to work.

01:27:00.910 --> 01:27:05.220
And I got talking to an
architect in Vancouver area

01:27:05.220 --> 01:27:09.570
and told him that I always
wanted to build a Haida house,

01:27:09.570 --> 01:27:10.280
but I couldn't.

01:27:10.280 --> 01:27:11.920
And I really wanted to
take advantage of the view

01:27:11.920 --> 01:27:12.760
at the same time.

01:27:12.760 --> 01:27:15.120
So I gave him a few
pictures of the views

01:27:15.120 --> 01:27:18.599
and some ideas of
what I want, left it

01:27:18.599 --> 01:27:19.890
with him for a couple of weeks.

01:27:19.890 --> 01:27:24.350
And he came back and came up
with a really nice design,

01:27:24.350 --> 01:27:27.920
where we have just a
single-story traditional house

01:27:27.920 --> 01:27:28.690
on the one side.

01:27:28.690 --> 01:27:34.040
And it moves into more
contemporary drywall,

01:27:34.040 --> 01:27:38.440
regular stick frame house
on the two story side.

01:27:38.440 --> 01:27:42.425
This space is probably close
to a thousand square feet,

01:27:42.425 --> 01:27:44.050
I guess.

01:27:44.050 --> 01:27:45.570
Or geez, you know, I'm not sure.

01:27:45.570 --> 01:27:50.294
It's maybe about 800 square
feet in this area here.

01:27:50.294 --> 01:27:53.540
Was there an architectural
challenge to cutting those

01:27:53.540 --> 01:27:55.570
beams?

01:27:55.570 --> 01:27:57.940
Yeah, it was a bit--
we had to figure out

01:27:57.940 --> 01:28:02.524
a way to access the upstairs.

01:28:02.524 --> 01:28:03.940
And there was a
couple of options.

01:28:03.940 --> 01:28:06.630
We could do it through
here, just as we had done.

01:28:06.630 --> 01:28:11.870
Or we could do it from two
story side of the house.

01:28:11.870 --> 01:28:13.320
And we chose to do it this way.

01:28:13.320 --> 01:28:18.460
Originally the
design was to cover--

01:28:18.460 --> 01:28:23.620
have a deck on top of
these three purlins here,

01:28:23.620 --> 01:28:25.720
just as we have the
roof on this side.

01:28:25.720 --> 01:28:30.710
So it would have looked more
like an enclosed longhouse.

01:28:30.710 --> 01:28:34.850
But once we got the second
story up there, and just

01:28:34.850 --> 01:28:37.400
looking down from
the second story

01:28:37.400 --> 01:28:40.805
and looking over through the
beams and down into the house,

01:28:40.805 --> 01:28:44.810
it looked so nice that we
thought we won't cover that.

01:28:44.810 --> 01:28:47.295
Yeah, and once you
get into a place,

01:28:47.295 --> 01:28:50.195
there's little things
with layout and whatnot.

01:28:50.195 --> 01:28:53.107
But generally, we're
pretty happy, yeah.

01:28:57.010 --> 01:29:02.950
The direction today in Haida
architecture, there's rules.

01:29:02.950 --> 01:29:04.170
There's no rules.

01:29:04.170 --> 01:29:05.630
You can break the rules.

01:29:05.630 --> 01:29:08.220
It's open.

01:29:08.220 --> 01:29:13.040
So I know when the guys start
building these Haida houses

01:29:13.040 --> 01:29:15.380
that they're going to
bump up against the design

01:29:15.380 --> 01:29:17.800
of the structure-- what
type, right off the bat,

01:29:17.800 --> 01:29:20.640
and then what type of details
they're going to put into it.

01:29:20.640 --> 01:29:24.210
That's the interesting part, is
to watch how these people pull

01:29:24.210 --> 01:29:28.790
it together, do the changes
but keep it or not keep it.

01:29:28.790 --> 01:29:30.890
So it's going to be pretty
darn interesting to see

01:29:30.890 --> 01:29:34.040
this and watch it escalate.

01:29:45.970 --> 01:29:48.234
For a people to exist,
they have to have language.

01:29:48.234 --> 01:29:49.150
They have to have art.

01:29:49.150 --> 01:29:50.991
They have to have architecture.

01:30:00.260 --> 01:30:01.900
We used to live in teepees.

01:30:01.900 --> 01:30:04.460
But of course, over a period
of time, things changed.

01:30:04.460 --> 01:30:06.460
And we're modern Indians today.

01:30:09.530 --> 01:30:12.780
Consequently, we still
put it up and we still

01:30:12.780 --> 01:30:17.372
revere it just as much as it
was back in the olden days.

01:30:27.850 --> 01:30:31.415
You really need to come up
with the process of design that

01:30:31.415 --> 01:30:35.100
isn't top down, that
involves the community.

01:30:35.100 --> 01:30:37.270
And in the end, if
you do it right,

01:30:37.270 --> 01:30:39.270
the design doesn't belong
to me as an architect,

01:30:39.270 --> 01:30:40.600
it belongs to that community.

01:30:48.370 --> 01:30:51.000
This is a living culture.

01:30:51.000 --> 01:30:53.950
The modern facility
has its place.

01:30:53.950 --> 01:30:59.002
And the traditional material
and the traditional look

01:30:59.002 --> 01:31:01.324
is the soul of it.

01:31:07.772 --> 01:31:12.150
It's the effort behind it
all, too, and what it means.

01:31:12.150 --> 01:31:14.220
That's the good part of it all.

01:31:14.220 --> 01:31:16.750
People are reaching
out, and it's exciting.

01:31:25.010 --> 01:31:28.660
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