Notes for "He Made Some Houses"
These are the notes for "He Made Some Houses."
Tom Harjo -- He has light copper skin, black eyes, and long straight black hair. His heritage is Dakota, Ojibwe, and some Cherokee. He speaks English and a little Dakota. He is 13 years old in 1968 when AIM is founded.
Tom is the younger brother of Rayanna Harjo. He jumps right into fixing things, but often gets impatient with other people. He turns to natural building because the government housing is so bad. Tom is an activist with a focus on indigenous rights, who joined the American Indian Movement early on.
Qualities: Good (+2) Activist, Good (+2) Natural Construction, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Self-Starter, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Impatient
Aspen (Yancey Laufle) -- He has tinted skin, brown eyes, and loosely nappy brown hair with a beard. He is tall and thin. He wears glasses. In the picture, he is standing on the floor. He is 22 in 1974 when Little Bend Reservation is established near his home in the Nature's Way commune. Aspen is the older brother of Balsam (their herbalist), husband of Willow, father of Amaranth (daughter), Shadbush (son), and Foxtail (daughter); uncle of Yarrow (niece) and Hyssop (niece).
Qualities: Expert (+4) Hippie, Good (+2) Leader, Good (+2) Natural Construction, Good (+2) Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Fitting In
Nature's Way is a T-American commune that started in 1970, located just south of the eastmost bend of the Minnesota River in L-Minneopa State Park. In Terramagne, the tribe added that area to their reservation later on when Mankato tried to annex Nature's Way to get rid of the "unsightly hippie hovels."
Aspen is standing on the floor. Aspen's brother Balsam is on the left roof. Tamarack is on the center roof. Jack Pine is on the right roof wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
* * *
The Prairie Island Reservation belongs to the Dakota Sioux nation. Part of it was later flooded, and a nuclear plant was opened right next to it.
This map shows Minnesota reservations, and here is the Minnesota river basin.
In 1974, Terramagne-AIM won a court case about the nuclear reactor which obliged Minnesota to provide a new reservation for anyone who wished to move away from Prairie Island (11 on the map). Little Bend was established between Lower Sioux (9) and Shapkopee Mdewakanton (10), just west of Mankato, where the Minnesota River joins Minneopa Creek. Little Bend fills the northern part of what is local-Minneopa State Park. It spanned 800 acres at its creation and has subsequently grown to 2,450 acres. Terramagne-Minneopa County Park is the southern section along Minneopa Creek. They are separated by State Highway 68.
MINNEOPA STATE PARK is located off U.S. Highway 169 and State Highway 68, five miles west of Mankato in Blue Earth County. Highway map index: 19-H.
Tom's treehouse on Prairie Island is painted with a sun and moon.
Nature's Way uses a big pavilion as a meeting house.
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an important activist group.
Read about green building in local-America. Techniques include adobe, bamboo, cob, cordwood, earthbag, Earthship, poured earth, rammed earth, and strawbale.
Architecture Without Architects. By Bernard Rudofsky, University of New Mexico Press, 1964. One of the books that inspired the natural building renaissance. Read the whole book online.
Shelter. By Lloyd Kahn, Shelter Publications, 1973. A cult classic from the heyday of teach-ins and VWs, this large-format book may have inspired more owner-builders to build crazy structures than any other.
Different tribes spanned a wide range of houses. Cherokee tribes had different summer and winter houses.
Coping with water is a vital part of underground homes. Ideally, measure slopes to avoid putting a home where water wants to collect.
Know how to start a co-op.
Import replacement is an essential strategy to building strong communities. Identify what you have to get from outside, then imagine how you could meet that need locally instead.
Tom Harjo -- He has light copper skin, black eyes, and long straight black hair. His heritage is Dakota, Ojibwe, and some Cherokee. He speaks English and a little Dakota. He is 13 years old in 1968 when AIM is founded.
Tom is the younger brother of Rayanna Harjo. He jumps right into fixing things, but often gets impatient with other people. He turns to natural building because the government housing is so bad. Tom is an activist with a focus on indigenous rights, who joined the American Indian Movement early on.
Qualities: Good (+2) Activist, Good (+2) Natural Construction, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Self-Starter, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Impatient
Aspen (Yancey Laufle) -- He has tinted skin, brown eyes, and loosely nappy brown hair with a beard. He is tall and thin. He wears glasses. In the picture, he is standing on the floor. He is 22 in 1974 when Little Bend Reservation is established near his home in the Nature's Way commune. Aspen is the older brother of Balsam (their herbalist), husband of Willow, father of Amaranth (daughter), Shadbush (son), and Foxtail (daughter); uncle of Yarrow (niece) and Hyssop (niece).
Qualities: Expert (+4) Hippie, Good (+2) Leader, Good (+2) Natural Construction, Good (+2) Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Poor (-2) Fitting In
Nature's Way is a T-American commune that started in 1970, located just south of the eastmost bend of the Minnesota River in L-Minneopa State Park. In Terramagne, the tribe added that area to their reservation later on when Mankato tried to annex Nature's Way to get rid of the "unsightly hippie hovels."
Aspen is standing on the floor. Aspen's brother Balsam is on the left roof. Tamarack is on the center roof. Jack Pine is on the right roof wearing a T-shirt and jeans.
* * *
The Prairie Island Reservation belongs to the Dakota Sioux nation. Part of it was later flooded, and a nuclear plant was opened right next to it.
This map shows Minnesota reservations, and here is the Minnesota river basin.
In 1974, Terramagne-AIM won a court case about the nuclear reactor which obliged Minnesota to provide a new reservation for anyone who wished to move away from Prairie Island (11 on the map). Little Bend was established between Lower Sioux (9) and Shapkopee Mdewakanton (10), just west of Mankato, where the Minnesota River joins Minneopa Creek. Little Bend fills the northern part of what is local-Minneopa State Park. It spanned 800 acres at its creation and has subsequently grown to 2,450 acres. Terramagne-Minneopa County Park is the southern section along Minneopa Creek. They are separated by State Highway 68.
MINNEOPA STATE PARK is located off U.S. Highway 169 and State Highway 68, five miles west of Mankato in Blue Earth County. Highway map index: 19-H.
Tom's treehouse on Prairie Island is painted with a sun and moon.
Nature's Way uses a big pavilion as a meeting house.
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an important activist group.
Read about green building in local-America. Techniques include adobe, bamboo, cob, cordwood, earthbag, Earthship, poured earth, rammed earth, and strawbale.
Architecture Without Architects. By Bernard Rudofsky, University of New Mexico Press, 1964. One of the books that inspired the natural building renaissance. Read the whole book online.
Shelter. By Lloyd Kahn, Shelter Publications, 1973. A cult classic from the heyday of teach-ins and VWs, this large-format book may have inspired more owner-builders to build crazy structures than any other.
Different tribes spanned a wide range of houses. Cherokee tribes had different summer and winter houses.
Coping with water is a vital part of underground homes. Ideally, measure slopes to avoid putting a home where water wants to collect.
Know how to start a co-op.
Import replacement is an essential strategy to building strong communities. Identify what you have to get from outside, then imagine how you could meet that need locally instead.