Heating The Rez

[BrotherBart]

"A pilot project is underway to outfit homes on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation with heating stoves in the hopes of eventually ending residents' reliance on propane, which can spike in price during the winter months."

(broken link removed to http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/heating-stove-project-underway-on-standing-rock/article_b0c59dbe-37dd-54e7-9476-50d0df113238.html)

 

[Lake Girl]

This James Bay Cree community has been using the waste from a local sawmill to fire biomass boiler that heats many of the homes/buildings in the community. They used the savings from heating to build additional homes for the band members. They also have added their own sawmill to produce lumber to build houses and have a carpentry training program. One of the few first nation communities that don't have a housing crisis. They had some pretty good band leadership at a time when they received a settlement for lands that had not been surrendered previously.

http://www.biomasscenter.org/images/stories/ouje-bougoumou.pdf

 

[mass_burner]

Wow, imagine that, after 10, 000 years of heating ourselves with no propane or other fossil fuels, over the last 300 years we need charity not to freeze to death.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Buffalo dung was once a widely used fuel out there, but the buffs were exterminated along with most of the natives.

Take a satellite view of the reservation on Google. Not many trees.

 

[mass_burner]

Do any tribes raise buffalo?

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Yes, but not in numbers like the original herds.