CATC, which opened in 2006, is hosted on the campus of Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), Weatherford. The goal of CATC’s leadership is to develop the college into an autonomous, accredited institution with its own buildings and campus.

 

When she learned from Mann that CATC was at the earliest stage of its development, Paxson proposed that students from Iowa State could help the young college explore both what it needed and desired before its board members met with professional architects and planners. The result was a multidisciplinary service-learning studio this spring in which ISU students developed proposals for the future of CATC.

 

Paxson has taught a number of outreach studio courses that have worked with tribal communities, including the Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, the Meskwaki in Iowa and the Houma in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. To help them prepare for their work with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, Paxson had the students spend the first weeks of the semester researching the history, culture and current governance of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, and becoming familiar with traditional and contemporary Native American architecture, land use and planning.

 

They then traveled to Oklahoma in February for an intensive three-day visit with tribal members, during which they toured the space the tribal college uses on the SWOSU campus in Weatherford, the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site—where the U.S. Army attacked a group of Southern Cheyenne in 1868—and the former Indian boarding school at Colony, as well as a number of potential sites for the new CATC campus.

“That trip was crucial because the students learned first hand about many important facets of the Cheyenne and Arapaho cultures,” Paxson said. “They learned about sacred space, and realized that not only did Native Americans not disappear, but they have maintained a strong connection to the land and their traditions.”

Several students chose to take this studio because it involved working on a real project for real people. Meeting tribal leaders, visiting their communities and culturally significant sites, and hearing their stories first hand, all helped students better understand for whom they were designing and the impact their designs could have.

“It was really important for me to go there and meet with them face to face,” said Sarah Sandor, an architecture graduate student from Northfield, Minn. “I found it very moving to hear [Mann] and the other members talk about their hopes and dreams, and what this tribal college means for their people.

 

"I didn’t know how to design for them until I met them.”

The class relied heavily on lessons from that trip as well as on feedback from Mann, who came to Iowa State for interim reviews. Students worked alone or in teams to develop proposals for new tribal college sites, including two short-term rehabilitations of existing buildings in Weatherford (for more immediate occupation) and three possible long-term campus sites in Clinton, Colony and Weatherford.

Because the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College hopes to be self-sustaining and “off the grid,” students were encouraged to incorporate alternative energy ideas (passive solar, geothermal and wind), and on-site control of water and waste systems.

 

In keeping with the tribes’ circular symbol of life and the quadrants created by lines through the semi-cardinal directions, many students designed building entrances that face east, as is customary for the Cheyenne and Arapaho. They also located certain activities to correspond to the quadrants’ meanings, such as a daycare center in the “childhood” quadrant and a basketball/recreation area in the section that represents youth.

 

Knowing that many CATC students have spouses and children, ISU students designed housing options to accommodate families. Some projects included apartments to house elders who serve as guest instructors, acknowledging the importance of intergenerational connections in the Cheyenne and Arapaho culture.

 

They also looked at traditional crops harvested by the Cheyenne and Arapaho people, such as prairie turnips and ground nuts, and how these might be used to increase the college’s sustainability—to provide food for students, a modest income from sales, and a valuable teaching tool, all within the landscape.
At the final review, CATC board members were connected via videoconference and Mann attended in person, to allow for interaction between students, Design College faculty members, local practitioners and clients.

Mann expressed her thanks.

 

“I don’t have the same kind of eye as you, as designers. My eye comes from culture,” she said. “I want to thank the students for adhering to Cheyenne-Arapaho ways. [CATC] is our cultural sanctuary… where knowledge is stored and passed on. I am so grateful you have adhered to culture yet used your own inspiration.”

 

The class hopes its proposals will help the CATC board move forward with site selection, funding and development of their program. Several students would like to continue this project as an independent study. Depending on where the tribal college is in the process next spring, Paxson hopes to offer another studio in which students can