Tammy Eagle Bull, FAIA, AICAE, NCARB. Photo courtesy of Encompass Architects

Tammy Eagle Bull, FAIA, AICAE, NCARB, is an architect and President of the firm Encompass Architects based in Lincoln, Nebraska, which she co-founded in 2002. She is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and a graduate of Arizona State University and the University of Minnesota. This discussion occurred between March and May of 2021 and explored the changes that have occurred in the past 40 years where Ms. Eagle Bull has been involved in the architecture industry, since the time she first began studying architecture through the challenges of this past year.

RV: How has this past year affected you, your community, and your practice?

TEB: We actually became busier over the past year. A big portion of our workload is federally funded projects on tribal land. The Department of Interior, Indian Affairs has kept us really busy over the past year with education planning projects. For me, personally, working from home has been quite productive and positive. Typically, I travel at least 1-2 times a month to our out-of-state projects. I’ve only had 2 project trips since March 2020. It’s shown us that most of our meetings can occur virtually which is something I hope continues after the pandemic. 

While I live in Lincoln, NE, the community I consider as home is Porcupine, SD on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. That is where my parents grew up and later retired to decades ago, so this has been where we go to see family. Covid has made the already dire economic situation there worse. Lack of access to the internet and computers meant that many lost jobs because they could not work remotely. Those who were already isolated, like elders, were even more isolated and lonely. Students who relied on schools for meals had less access to food and their social circle. 

It’s been difficult for the families who are normally very close. They could not gather for traditional ceremonies, family events, or funerals. The impact of the loss of social interaction has been widespread and multigenerational. Elders and school-age people seem to be affected the most with increased suicide rates and increased food insecurity. Many students consider school their safe place and were forced to stay home in unstable or unsafe situations. Schools are vital to the community for education but also as a gathering place.

Over the course of your career have there been other significant moments of change that have influenced how you consider and approach design, and what were they?

Early in my career the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. I studied the Act prior to it being passed so that when it was enacted I was ready to implement it. I was a young architect but went to my boss and told him that I knew it well and that we should start offering to do ADA Audits. I made myself valuable to the firm and created a niche for myself with ADA audits and renovations. It was a puzzle piece that I didn’t realize I needed as I moved toward a yet undefined career working with under-represented populations. Many in the profession and many clients were against the ADA and looked for ways to circumvent the guidelines. I saw their reluctance to or resentment in having to change the environment for a particular population. There was this overt desire to keep excluding and antipathy to inclusivity. I felt that it was so obviously necessary in order to be inclusive.

There was this overt desire to keep excluding and antipathy to inclusivity. I felt that it was so obviously necessary in order to be inclusive

As an architect who heavily emphasizes the need to listen to the families and communities you design for, such as with Pahin Sinte Owayawa, being the first Native American woman architect, has there been any extra pressure to be the voice or expert for Native American communities from the architecture industry? 

Yes, as I’ve become more widely known in the past several years, there definitely is the assumption that I speak for all Native architects or people. When I first started focusing on tribal clients, there was pressure to be the “face” of the firm with tribal clients. Firms felt it was to their advantage to have me as leading the project when at that time I was not experienced enough. I knew it would come across as insincere and false. So, I took a step back from helping pursue tribal work and focused on getting experience in as many project types and sizes as I could. I volunteered for every messy renovation project so I could learn. I wanted to be deserving of being a project PM or PA for my architectural knowledge rather than my heritage 

Now, with nearly 40 years of experience`, I don’t question my expertise in architecture. I am still careful about being perceived as speaking for all native people or native architects. Many do not understand that each tribal nation is a separate culture with their own language, customs and values. There is not a “Native American” culture per se. So, I speak from my perspective as a Lakota woman. I know that the only way to educate others on our cultures is to disseminate information.

Many do not understand that each tribal nation is a separate culture with their own language, customs and values. There is not a “Native American” culture per se

Along with architecture, you also work with AICAE to increase access and opportunities to Native students pursuing higher education. How have you seen this relationship with education change from the time your father wanted to pursue architecture, to your time at college to the situation for Native students pursuing architecture today? 

Slowly there has been an increase in Native students in architecture schools. I am thrilled when I give a lecture at a university and I see several Native students, and the majority of those being women. That kind of blows me away. When I was in college, I didn’t know any other Native students, and there were only 3 or 4 other women in my architecture class. Seeing that the students have other Native classmates in architecture is so exciting for me. I am so happy that they have each other. I did not know another Native architect until I finished college and didn’t know another Native woman architect for many years after that. I felt very isolated and I think it probably took me longer to develop and define my career path and vision because I did not have anyone who understood my unique situation. 

I am thrilled when I give a lecture at a university and I see several Native students, and the majority of those being women

In my dad’s situation, racism influenced his life in a more direct manner. The prevalent belief by the dominant culture was that certain professions and jobs were only for them and that people of color were not capable of those efforts. I experienced a more subtle racism in school. My classmates assumed I was only there because of Equal Opportunity and quotas. Even though they knew the school had a blind portfolio selection process. They attributed any success I had to their perception that I was given an unfair advantage because I was a minority, that professors were taking it easy on me. I’m sure today’s Native students still experience racism but that is why I’m happy there are more of them – they have a community, they have each other to help get through that.

You have mentioned that buildings that were designed for reservations in the past often lacked a sense of place and that many modern non-Native architects often fall back on architectural tropes such as the teepee in their designs - How do you see architecture as bringing light to the multitude of diverse cultures and traditions that exist within the expanse of American Indian identity?  

We need to break those stereotypes through respectful and appropriate integration of cultural ideals and values unique to each tribal nation. Getting to those concepts takes ample interaction, more listening than talking and the ability to communicate in a respectful way. If mainstream architects want to work with tribal nations, they need to understand who the client is, what it means to be from that community, and how to be inclusive in the design process. I am often called by architects who are going to meet with their new tribal client for the first time and don’t know what to expect or how to act and are looking for some tips. There is no guidebook, tips, or how-to guides for working with tribal people. Because each tribe is different. There are overarching ideas, customs and behaviors that are recognized between tribes and are appreciated when employed in communication. But those are behaviors that are taught from a young age and not something we can pass or teach other than to our own children.  

There is no guidebook, tips, or how-to guides for working with tribal people. Because each tribe is different. There are overarching ideas, customs and behaviors that are recognized between tribes and are appreciated when employed in communication

There is a huge need and big opportunities for Native Architects now. Mainstream architects have seen that through recessions and economic downturns, tribes usually have work due to their funding sources. There are only a few Native American-owned firms and probably less than 50 Native architects. While there is no way we could do all the projects, I believe we should be involved when possible. Hopefully, someday there will be enough of us to at least be advisory on tribal projects. Architects do not like sharing design work so most often will offer their Native architect teaming partner the role to coordinate communication by attending meetings but not a design role. What is heard is important but it is critical that those ideas are integrated in the design in a meaningful, respectful and appropriate manner. 

Along with language, food, and artwork, architecture serves as an important cultural symbol for a nation and its people - How do you view the role of architecture in helping to define the national identity and sovereignty of the Oglala Lakota Nation? 

Across America, our reservation communities have largely neglected the built environment as an expression of sovereignty. Thus, we have generic housing, generic schools, and attempts at meaningful design with stereotypical interpretations of pan-Indian culture. Tribal governments, schools, and communities have been trying to survive within the circumstances that colonization left them. This has been all-consuming. Getting a new school or building funded is such a major event, there is hesitancy from the school and tribe to be involved or speak up, lest they risk the funding being pulled or the project delayed. Reliance on the federal government and the dysfunctional relationship tribes have with Uncle Sam has resulted in an attitude of “don’t rock the boat.”

Reliance on the federal government and the dysfunctional relationship tribes have with Uncle Sam has resulted in an attitude of “don’t rock the boat”

Slowly tribal nations are pulling themselves toward self-sufficiency with economic opportunities such as gaming and industry. I see this as the path toward designing the built environment with the tribal clients being proactively involved in the design process. Having the security of self-sufficiency hopefully will lead to sovereignty in architecture. Realizing they have a right to be in control of their environment, they have a right to control the design, they have a right to have their vision realized. As architects, our role is to help them navigate that process.

Along with creating connections within the United States, through your lecturing abroad and work on the book Our Voices: Indigeneity and Architecture you were able to connect with Indigenous architects from around the world. What parallels and differences do you see with their experiences and your own?

I was able to meet Indigenous architects from all over the world including Canada’s First Nations, New Zealand’s Maori, and Australian Indigenous people. The commonalities we have are our collective desire to make our communities better and give our people a voice in the design of their environment. We all had developed a process to do this that is suited to our particular clients. Most of us pursue projects for the good we hope we can do and not the award-winning opportunities. And probably most interestingly is the willingness we have to share, collaborate, work together and help each other. That is not the case in mainstream architecture where the profession is very competitive, award-focused, and secretive.

And what hopes do you have for the coming generation?

This generation is confronting tough issues like inclusion, racism, sexism, and others in new and pretty effective ways. I have had such great interactions with students (diverse and mainstream) who are asking the right questions. I think with each generation we move closer to an inclusive and respectful understanding of everyone. Recognizing differences but realizing that we are all human and deserve to be treated with respect, honor, and kindness. I see that in the future architects. 

Architectural education seems to be moving toward a client-centered process rather than the “architect as expert” process of the past. Students seem to take it as fact that the client is critical to the design and that we are a service profession. We have expertise but the client, especially tribal clients are the experts in their needs, vision, and culture. The future will bring more Native architects and it will also bring more architects in general who are equipped with a mindset to work with tribal communities for the right reasons, not just to take advantage of the cultures to win awards.