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SHEDDING LIGHTON THE END TO NATIVE GENOCIDE

SACRED BADLANDS

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PINE RIDGE RESERVATION

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HOW CAN ARCHITECTURE STOP A GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE?”

CONTEXTThe Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has seen historical trauma. Locat-ed roughly 75 miles southeast of the Black Hills in South Dakota, Pine Ridge has received international attention for its incredible despair. Plagued for generations by a series of broken treaties with the U.S. Government, the Oglala Lakota have been left a mere fraction of their original sacred land and resources. Despair rips through the region as quality of life within Pine Ridge has been overshadowed by severe poverty and an endemic of drug and alcohol addiction. With each passing generation, spiritual and cultural values seemingly become lost as a never-ending battle of conformity to the modern world has left its mark on the indigenous people.

This thesis exposes a bitter truth of historical prejudice while provid-ing a solution to end the ethnocide of the Pine Ridge Indian Reserva-tion and to restore quality of life within its Native people. A proposed cultural center in the heart of Pine Ridge will seek education and shine light on Native American history. The center will focus on tradi-tional Lakota practices and rituals, combining cultural influences and a safe-haven for those struggling with the long-term effects of forced assimilation. The center will provide a sense of hope and purpose, breathing life back to the Oglala Lakota.

RED CLOUD INDIAN SCHOOL"So often the narrative of the Pine Ridge Reservation is that of deep and immense poverty, of incredible violence or sadness. But Red Cloud is a pocket of hope. I think that's exactly what we pro-vide here, is hope for the future. And the tools in order for our stu-dents to open those doors." (Maka Akan Najin Clifford)

The Red Cloud Indian School, located roughly five miles North of Pine Ridge, serves 600 Lakota children and families on the Pine Ridge Reservation in western South Dakota. Extreme poverty is a reality on the reservation and continues to affect the overall development of the Oglala Lakota and their city. As one may expect, the quality of the in-frastructure and cleanliness of the reservation is of major concern. However, there are exceptions to this norm and the Red Cloud Indian School campus works diligently to upend this notion.

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FLOOR PLAN UPPERFLOOR PLAN

LOWERFLOOR PLAN

0 16 FT.

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SITE PLAN

SECTION C - C

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SECTION B - B

1 MAIN ENTRANCE 4 CHILD CARE 7 ASSEMBLY 10 STORAGE 13 WORKSHOP2 GIFT SHOP 5 RESTROOM 8 GALLERY 11 SUPPORT 14 GEOTHERMAL3 LOBBY 6 SECONDARY ENTRANCE 9 CONTEMPLATION 12 CLASS/CONFERENCE 15 ELECTRICAL

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EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC

THE UNIFYING IDEAPine Ridge, the site of several events that mark milestones in his-tory between the Native Sioux and the United States government has become ground zero for Native issues within the U.S. The Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868, which sanctioned bands of the Lakota and Sioux Nation to establish the Great Sioux Nation including ownership of the Black Hills and other areas within South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana was deliberately broken by the U.S. Government. The Native people unjustly lost sacred land, resources, and ultimately a sense of pride as they were forced into prisoner of war camps. December 29th, 1890, U.S. troops surrounded a Sioux encamp-ment at Wounded Knee Creek and massacred Chief Big Foot and 300 women, children, and warriors of the Pine Ridge Reserva-tion. With this event, a new era in Native American history began.

The psychological effects of the Wounded Knee Massacre and broken treaties with the US Government continued to take a toll on the indigenous people. The beginning of a genocide was un-veiling in American history. Numerous events have unfolded since the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Conformity to the ways of the white settler was no longer an option. “Kill the Indian, save the man” became the motto as thousands of Ameri-can Indian children were forced into boarding schools, whipped and beaten if they spoke their native language or practiced their beliefs. Native Americans, especially those of the Oglala Lakota in Pine Ridge, have struggled to find their identity in a world that once revolved around the spirituality of nature and self-sufficien-cy. Plagued by unemployment rates between 85-90 percent, arid land, drug and alcohol addiction, abysmal health statistics and life-expectancy rates atop the worst in the western hemisphere, Pine Ridge is in desperate need of direction. The spiritual culture of the reservation’s people is being lost at an alarming rate.

HERITAGE CENTER LOBBY

ART GALLERY

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SUN DIAGRAM - ASSEMBLY SPACE

ARCH 772 | DESIGN THESIS | MAHALINGAM | NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY | SPRING 2019

ART GALLERY CONTEMPLATION SPACE ASSEMBLY SPACE ART MURAL ENTRY