Natural Building, Native Land

A new DVD by filmaker Walter Tauber chronicles our workshop on the Lakota Reservation in South Dakota

Price: $14, Postpaid in the US.

In August of 2007, Coenraad and James from House Alive left Oregon with a trailer full of tools and materials enroute to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, to share our building techniques with the Lakota Indians.

The Lakotas are a proud people, who resisted the colonizing Euro-Americans the longest. The area where we were building was once the hunting ground for legendary chief Crazy Horse and his people. Wounded Knee is only 15 minutes away.

Against the backdrop of this rich history among the spectacular Badlands now live a people with many struggles. The Reservation is the poorest place in America: Unemployment and alcoholism are well above 50%, and diabetes is rampant.

Shelter is one of the most acute problems of the reservation. Homelessness is estimated at about 80% -- many people share single-wide mobile homes with 20 to 30 others. These structures are riddled with black mold that causes many respiratory diseases among the natives.

At the invitation of reservation residents, House Alive conducted a workshop on the reservation to introduce a different kind of housing to Pine Ridge. This is the story told in "Natural Building, Native Land," by documentary filmmaker Walter Tauber.

The core of the DVD documents the process of building a small load-bearing strawbale cabin. You will see this structure go up step by step and learn about:

• Drainage and rubble trench foundations
• Earth-bag foundations
• Strawbale construction
• Natural clay plasters
• Earthen floors

Besides many clearly explained technical details, the film features interviews with both native leaders and workshop participants as well as beautiful footage of the area. We were lucky enough to be accompanied by a professional film maker. Director Walter Tauber has worked extensively for European television stations and was able to shoot and edit our project into a beautiful story and a high quality film. The DVD also has two "bonus" features, containing extended interviews with Lakotas.