November is both Native American Heritage Month and Homelessness Awareness Month. For me, honoring Native history and culture also means recognizing the disparities and challenges that have contributed to some of the highest rates of homelessness and housing instability in the United States. I was born in Alaska and am Iñupiaq, one of the Indigenous peoples of northern and northwestern Alaska. As an Indigenous person, I ask you to recognize these observances together.
Not everyone had the opportunity to learn this history in school. I want to share some of the policies and experiences that help explain the housing challenges Native communities face today.
Native Americans have faced historical trauma and dispossession of their tribal lands, including under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Forced relocations severed communities from traditional housing and land systems. The Dawes Act pursued assimilation into what the government called “civilized” culture by breaking up tribal lands and undermining tribal leadership. Without access to traditional hunting and gathering sites, many Native people were forced to rely on government rations to survive.
In the early 19th century, Native American Boarding schools began forcibly separating children from their families, stripped of their traditional clothing, forced to cut their hair, given Anglo-American names and severely punished for speaking their native languages. The explicit goal was forced cultural assimilation and to eradicate Indigenous languages, and sever family ties. These schools featured military disciple, manual labor, widespread emotional, physical and sexual abuse with high rates of disease and mortality. I have several family members who are Native Boarding School survivors.
With the dissolution of tribal lands, many were forced onto reservations where they faced critical housing shortages, substandard building conditions and lack of basic infrastructure. Overall poverty rates for Native Americans on reservations are significantly higher than the national average, higher unemployment rates, and many homes lack complete plumbing, running water and public sewer and electricity grids.
Broken treaties, boarding-school trauma, and the loss of culture and language have contributed to distrust of the U.S. government among many Native Americans. That history can shape whether people feel comfortable seeking shelter or housing assistance. Some Indigenous people may be reluctant to file fair housing complaints because of that mistrust. Systemic and cultural barriers may also make resources harder to access.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Native Americans – along with Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, and Black communities – have experienced the largest increases in homelessness in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors like rising rents and a slower jobs recovery rate have contributed to homelessness among Native Americans, who are already more likely to be severely housing cost burdened.”
Here in Oregon, people who identify as American Indians, Alaska Natives or Indigenous are 5.3 times more likely to experience homelessness compared to the state’s general population. In Portland, I have been thrilled to see several housing projects completed or in process that give legal preference to tribal members. Multiple public and private partners have come together to build several housing developments reflecting both cultural tradition and environmental responsibility. Some are focused on foster youth and intergenerational living, others are recovery-oriented, and some provide critical wraparound services.
Recognition is a starting point, not the end of the work. This month, I invite you to learn about the Native organizations addressing housing needs in your community, listen to the people they serve, and explore ways to support their work. The following projects show what that work looks like here in Portland.
One local development is recognized as a case study in sustainable construction by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Kah San Chak Haws, which means “East House” in Chinook, is a LEED Gold-Certified modular infill building project led by Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA). “NAYA built the modular multi-family prototype project to demonstrate the speed of construction, superior quality, affordability, and green qualities of modular housing” (Sustainable Construction in Indian Country.)
Nesika Illahee, another NAYA project, provides 59 units of culturally specific affordable housing to the community. NAYA developed the project in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest (NARA). It is the first housing complex to receive the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Indian Housing Block Grant for housing in an urban environment, rather than on reservations, where these funds are typically used.
For me, projects like this connect the two observances: honoring Native heritage also means recognizing Native communities’ housing needs and the work being done to address them.
Quyana (thank you)!