Solutions To The Reservation Housing Shortage Blocked By Many Obstacles

Overcrowding in homes on the Wind River Reservation is a real problem, as seen in the first story in our “Reservation Housing Shortage” series. In the early 2000s, the number of homes with more than six people living in them grew by 5% for Eastern Shoshone homes and by over 10% for Northern Arapaho. And the reason is, there just aren’t enough houses on the reservation. Come to find out, the reason is there are a lot of hurdles for tribes to jump through to get new housing developments funded.

In the heart of the town of Fort Washakie on the Wind River Reservation, workers are putting the finishing touches on the Tigee Village, a low income tribal housing development. Brian Mann is the deputy director of the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Housing Authority and he's showing me around.

“Do you mind if we walk over and kind of take a closer look at this community center?” I ask him. “I don't know if we'll be needing hard hats here but...”

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