Life on the Eastern Navajo Reservation.......(Housing)

Housing in the area of Thoreau, NM – in re: to electricity and water
Thoreau, NM is on the edge of the reservation. Our community here is mixed with teachers, IHS workers (Indian Health Service) who travel to Crownpoint or Gallup to work, jewelers, and mixed occupations.

Driving down the roads around our small, unincorporated town, you will see – BJ’s Kountry Store (a gallon of milk – no-name $4.50), two gas stations (average gas price $2.64 at this time),a gas station that is closed which the locals call the unemployment office, a Blimpies, two laundry mats, two old car washes and our new Family Dollar. All mail is delivered to the post office, which has a 10 ft chain fence around it and is open only from 9 am – 5:30 pm, M-F, with a few hours on Sat.

Houses in the Area

One will see many type of housing in Thoreau. There are homes like in most of America. One could also see multiple homes on a lot, many in shambles. Some nobody would want their pets to live in. Many Navajo’s in this area live in single wide trailers, a few in hogans or in Navajo Nation housing (some Navajo’s call them the projects) area, usually around the chapter house (kind of a city hall).

Hogan – if main house, normally do not have electricity or water. The Hogan is usually made of wood logs and covered with earth. There are two main types: the original style called the forked pole Hogan, just described, and the more modern of the two, the stacked log Hogan. The forked pole style is said to be male, protecting its inhabitants like a father. The stacked log is said to be female and is said to care for her people like a mother. The female style Hogan is much more prevalent, coming into existence when the Navajo people started prospering and needed more room for bigger families.

(http://fourcorners.blogs.plymouth.edu/2009/05/21/the-hogan-the-traditional-navajo-home-by-chelsi-coulombe-and-mary-ann-mcgarry/)

Work on the Eastern Navajo Nation deep in the reservation is hard. Children help shear the sheep (holding feet or the head down), play basketball, ride bikes, throw rocks, ride horses and participate in native ceremonies. While my children may be watching Dora or Diego, children may not even have electricity or water.
The following are statistics taken from the 2000 Census –

Occupied Housing Units (selected characteristics)

Thoreau CDP NM: Number Percent
Lacking complete plumbing facilitiese 63 12.3%
Lacking complete kitchen facilities 39 7.6%
No telephone Service 117 22.93%

Crownpoint CDP NM:
Question 1 19 2.6%

Question 2 19 2.6%

Question 3 190 26.2%

Pueblo Pintado CDP NM:

Question 1 30 33.7%

Question 2 23 25.8%

Question 3 45 50.6%