CASE STUDY: THE PUEBLO OF NAMBE - LESSONS IN LEVERAGING FUNDS AND CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP Interviewee - Andrew Martinez | Housing Director, & Christina “Tina” Brass | Co-Housing Director/Former Housing Director
THE PUEBLO OF NAMBE TDHE BACKGROUND & CONTEXT The Nambe tribe or the “People of the Round Earth” translated in Kewa, is almost one of the smaller Pueblo tribes of New Mexico of approximately 700 enrolled members and approximately 19000 acres. The income per capita in the year 2018 for the Nambe tribe sits around $ 28,663.90 Tribal economic activity is centered around tourism around the Nambe Falls Recreation Area. Of the 19 pueblo tribes, the Nambe were amongst the first to accept HUD development assistance in 1967. Following the passage of NAHASDA, the Nambe departed from the Northern Pueblo Housing Authority to create their own Tribally Designated Housing Entity in 1998. Currently Andrew Martinez serves as Housing Director, proceeding Christina “Tina” Brass who served for 13 years from 2007-2019 and is currently Co-Director with Andrew Martinez. Traditional Nambe pueblo dwellings feature attached units, with some shared spaces. Pueblo dwellings are clustered around 10-12 plazas and families live next to one another. The average pueblo unit size ranged from 800-1000 sq. ft, 1-story in height and composed of mud/clay exteriors and with either wood or dirt floors. Pueblo units were traditionally built by people within the community and till this day families are still living in pueblo dwellings along the plaza.
1937 HOUSING ACT According to Housing Director Andrew Martinez and Co-Director Christina Brass, from 19671980, less than 5-10 single family units were built in Nambe Tribal land. The first round of HUD 1937 housing units was detached single-family homes, approximately 800-1000 sq. ft, 2bdrm/1ba and flat roofed and featured unfinished floors. From 1980-1991 an additional 129 homes were built of various different layouts that featured gabled roofs, ranged from 1000-1600 sq. ft, and were typically 2bdrm/1ba to 2bdrm/2ba, and included various different features such as front porches, back porches, and fireplaces. In regard to the 1937 Housing Act producing a cultural impact on housing development in the tribe. Neither Martinez or Brass expressed any significant positive or negative impacts of the 1937 units homes, but agreed they brought a new design language into the tribe. More specifically the introduction of 1937 HUD units brought about the rapid acceleration of scattered homes. Lastly both Martinez and Brass noted from a developer’s standpoint, they appreciated the fact HUD covered the entirety of a project when constructing a 1937 Housing Act unit.
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Ibid. U.S. Census Information for Native Americans. (2020)
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