During our work as community developers for Thunder Valley CDC on the Pine Ridge Reservation, we were occasionally asked to step into the role of architects. This was the case when a need arose to create a chicken coop for 500 egg-laying birds for the Food Sovereignty Initiative. The coop was to be the first building erected on site and was to represent the intention of the community to come. It needed to reflect a community effort to incorporate Lakota values, art and culture.

Its form is a traditional agricultural typology. We sited the building so the large south facing roof could support solar panels that feed into the development’s energy grid.