Indigenous Architecture: Marking and Stewardship Through History

Date of Award

Spring 1-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Architecture

First Advisor

Blackhawk, Ned

Abstract

This dissertation critically reinterprets a history of Indigenous Architecture in the United States between the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Reflecting on the thematic intersection of fire in Laugier’s architecture origin myth and the creation stories of Indigenous traditions, the narrative of spatial epistemologies in Indigenous architectural practice are rewritten. The tools for producing, communicating and reading architecture become central to a historical analysis of Indigenous architectural practice as it resists and adjusts to newcomer influences. The following research hinges around two significant points of change in Indigenous Architectural history that are explicitly linked to a history of Native-newcomer relations: the inception of Indigenous architects into the architectural profession during the Indian Industrial School era (1890-1915) and the utopic masterplan of the Alcatraz occupation leading to a period of Indian Educational Reform (1964-1975).Breaking chronological conventions, two key moments in Indigenous Architectural history are used to frame a sequence of case studies organized by four distinctive tools of architectural marking. The use of these tools, before the gradual adoption of mechanical drafting practices, articulate a consistent theme of Indigenous spatial values whose architectural outcomes reflect the changes in socio-political conditions of the Educational Reform era. The result of this study, encapsulated in the theme of Knowledge Sharing Spaces, connects the architectural values revealed in the communicative tools of nineteenth century Indigenous spatial practices with the programmatic demands of Indigenous educational infrastructure towards the end of the twentieth century. Work of contemporary Indigenous architects plots a future trajectory of Indigenous design, one that continues to be rooted in tradition while breaking the molds of historic architecture narratives. The methodology of analysis developed in this dissertation reorients the field of study of Indigenous design while providing a framework for viewing, designing, and evaluating architectures of marking and stewardship across the profession.

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