Douglas Cardinal, "Sustainable and Appropriate Shelter Issues for First Nations Peoples"
Douglas J. Cardinal, of Douglas Cardinal Architect Ltd., in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada
Summary: Mr. Cardinal discussed how architects and planners for First Nations peoples need to have an understanding of their world views and beliefs, especially the belief that all life is interconnected and should follow the natural laws of nature. Mr. Cardinal shared several examples how his firm carried the concept of interconnectedness in their community designs for the Kamloops Indian Band, the Ouje-Bougoumou Cree Indians, and the Ross River Community.
Mr. Cardinal began his presentation, “World Views,” with a comparison of First Nation perspectives and traditional hierarchal society perspectives. Mr. Cardinal said a hierarchical, pyramid based society is traditionally a patriarchal system with men using fear to gain power and control. It operates by laws created by men. Indigenous “of the land” societies are a matriarchal system where women are at the center of power and live in harmony with men and nature. Matriarchal systems are based on individual responsibility, peace, love, harmony and contribution and where children are at the center of the community. It follows Natural Law. A hierarchal society views good and evil existing together so people aren’t responsible for their own actions because evil is so powerful. An indigenous society views people as beautiful, spiritual beings of light connected to our Creator, that evil exists in the minds of sick people and people are responsible for their own actions. A hierarchal view is that people are born without knowledge that must be supplied by society through diplomas and degrees to those who have conformed to the hierarchal institutions. This creates a competitive, stressful and territorial society where knowledge is powerful. An indigenous world view is that we are born with all the knowledge of the past, present and future and everyone has the possibility of creating “something” from “nothing”. “Knowledge is only valuable if it is useful and relevant. Knowledge emphasizes creativity and ingenuity, balancing the needs of people with the resources they need to survive. To that end, creativity is powerful,” stated Mr. Cardinal.
Mr. Cardinal discussed the spirituality of First Nation peoples, stating that all life is connected and the indigenous society follows the natural laws of nature: earth, air, fire and water. “We are connected to our higher self – our spiritual being – and to our Source and to each other and to all life itself. To communicate with the Creator, we pray in six directions – the four directions plus heaven and earth, symbolizing all of creation connected with us. There is also a seventh direction – the power of the spirit – the Creator within us. We are the seventh direction. Since we are an intrinsic part of creation at one with the Creator, thus we are co-creators and are given the powerful gift of creativity. Thus, we are god-like beings,” expressed Mr. Cardinal. Only humans were given the power to create. Connecting to the seventh direction – the spirit – requires being respectful of all life. It requires embracing the soft power of love rather than the hard power of force initiated by the Ego. This connection, while powerful and magical, brings a certain responsibility to make a difference in the course that humanity takes. “As guardians of the land we are responsible to respect all living beings, to maintain a balance and harmony with our environment, to create sustainable systems, to heal our people, our land, and our environment, and to heal Mother Earth, the source of life on this planet. We must plan for future generations and all living beings that share the land with us,” declared Mr. Cardinal.
Mr. Cardinal carries the concept of interconnectedness in his architectural planning for indigenous communities. In his newest development, a 2006 community design for the Kamloops Indian Band his first step was to consider the land surrounding the community where the Band has cultural, historical, and spiritual connections and how natural resources will be used in a sustainable way for future generations. “All creatures sharing the land with the Band must have their natural habitats preserved. Water must be respected and purified since it is the life-giver for all creatures,” said Mr. Cardinal.
Mr. Cardinal involved the Band’s elders for advice throughout the process. Together, they developed a land use plan that involved development without changing the natural drainage patterns of the water sources. All water drainage from roofs and streets followed natural paths to ponds where it is purified before returning to the main river. The plan developed only the lands that wouldn’t result in the destruction of natural resources and kept a large range of land for natural species to flourish. The plan included a separation of vehicle and pedestrian traffic with all houses facing a green space so that each child could walk to school without having to cross a street. The community provides public transportation for the elderly and children. This process helped the Kamloops Nation to establish new zoning requirements, bylaws and planning guidelines that respected their spiritual values.
At first, Mr. Cardinal considered a traditional cul-de-sac model with the driveways on the outside and the interconnected green space on the inside. But the women favored a circular cluster model where several houses are clustered in a circle or semi-circle where children, single women and elders are an intrinsic part of the cluster. The clusters follow the natural drainage patterns of the earth for the central green space and vehicles are kept on the periphery.
The plan factored in the placement of commercial and communal areas so that each cluster area is self sufficient. They planned for the placement of agricultural, recreational and light industrial zones. It included a plan for the incineration of municipal waste with a plasma torch to generate electricity and heat for the Band. It planned for riprap and planting trees along some areas of river bank to prevent erosion. The plan included retrofitting an old military base including cluster housing, drainage, agricultural areas for onions, berry bushes and poplar trees, a community public space, an educational lodge, and building a small dam for power generation, drinking water and fire protection. The plan also included a cost effective wastewater and sewer treatment plan.
The houses incorporated a building design requested by the community that followed the framing pattern of traditional “pit” houses with an octagonal shape, central living space surrounding a central fireplace, and simple, flexible loft spaces. The panels are pre-manufactured with plumbing and electrical integrated in for simple construction. To decrease the incidence of asthma in the children, all wood materials were used – no drywall or carpet. The simple materials also allowed multiple uses of the home for anything – skinning moose, repairing snowmobiles, etc!
Another project Mr. Cardinal was involved in was for the Ouje-Bougoumou Cree Indians. Mr. Cardinal described them as “A displaced tribe of 500 people with a sad story of abuse and neglect by the mining and forestry companies as well as the provincial and federal governments.” The Canadian government agreed to finance the construction of the Ouje-Bougomou village. Mr. Cardinal looked at their culture and traditions while involving all 500 people to get their vision for their new community. He advised allowing vision and function to dictate the form a development takes rather than using preconceived ideas.
The Cree’s vision was to live in harmony with their environment, following their tradition of conservation and to ensure the land and resources will be there for future generations. The Cree wanted to provide an economy for their people so they become a “welfare-free enclave.” They wanted the development to reflect Cree appearance and functions and to become a place for healing – physical and spiritual. The people wanted clustered traditional homes around a central “shaptwan” (gathering place) radiating outwards in circular concentric rings, like a medicine wheel, going in four directions. The shaptwan was made of natural materials, wood, rock and earth walls.
The community also wanted a central biomass-fueled district heating system to provide heat, hot water and power for the entire village. The fuel source is waste sawdust from nearby sawmills. Biomass heat cost $11 per megawatt-hour compared to $96 for oil heating. The money from saved energy costs is put back into the community housing fund. The result of this systematic planned development was that one-fourth of the young people are now attending University, the village has a large tourist and economic base with little unemployment, traditional social programs, and a basic sense of pride and respect within the community. Since the success of this development, Mr. Cardinal has been involved in many different projects such as the Victoria Island Indigenous Centre, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau , Quebec and the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington , DC .
A recent project is the Master plan for the community of Ross River in Whitehorse , Yukon Territories , Canada . Similar to the Kamloops design, it uses circular clustered housing with central green spaces and peripheral parking.