Highlights from recent projects help tell the story of how and where we work.
Visit our Gallery to see samples of specific deliverables. Use the search bar below to find projects in specific regions, covering certain topics, or with a particular tribe.
All Projects
Nch'i Wana Community Needs Assessment
Nch’i Wana Housing is working with Big Water Consulting to conduct a Community Needs Assessment of people living along the Columbia River at treaty and in-lieu fishing sites and adjacent communities. The Community Needs Assessment will collect actionable data that Nch’i Wana Housing and its partners providing services to tribal members and residents of these sites can use to plan for future housing and community development projects and to strengthen their programs and services.
Nisqually Indian Tribal Needs Assessment
The Nisqually Indian Tribe is working with Big Water Consulting to conduct a Tribal Needs Assessment of households living on the reservation. The Nisqually Tribal Needs Assessment Survey aims to provide a better understanding of how Nisqually tribal members prioritize treaty rights issues and develop a better understanding of the Tribe's current circumstances. The survey will determine current housing conditions, which tribal services are known to the community, which programs are used by households, and how connected they are to community services and activities such as fishing, hunting, and gathering. The Needs Assessment will also provide an opportunity to better understand how the Nisqually tribe can communicate with the community and how tribal members feel about long-term vs. short-term investment in tribal resources.
Big Valley Rancheria Community Needs Assessment
Lake County, California
Big Valley Rancheria is home to the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, descendents of the Xa-Ben-Na-Po Band of Pomo Indians that have inhabited the Clear Lake area of present-day California for thousands of years. The Big Vallery Rancheria Community Needs Assessment seeks to gather data on the housing and other programming needs of Big Valley residents and Tribal members. The needs assessment will also inform renovations to rental housing being conducted by Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab at MASS Design, a Native-owned architecture firm.
Fond du Lac Housing & Community Needs Assessment
The Fond du Lac Housing and Community Needs Assessment is being directed by the Fond du Lac Planning Division to collect actionable data that the Band can use to plan for future housing and community development projects.
White Earth Housing Needs Assessment
The White Earth Housing Needs Assessment is being conducted to support the White Earth Nation in its efforts to implement a Housing Needs Study. For this project, the White Earth Housing Authority will conduct a survey of residents throughout the study area as well as focus groups, interviews and community meetings to help determine the availability of and need for housing on the White Earth Reservation.
Flathead Indian Reservation Housing Needs Assessment
The Salish & Kootenai Housing Authority is working with Big Water Consulting to convene a regional coalition of governments and non-profit organizations to address the housing crisis facing the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Housing Needs Assessment will collect actionable data that communities can use to plan for future housing and community development projects.
Muckleshoot Community Needs Assessment
Auburn, Washington
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is composed of descendants of the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup peoples of Central Puget Sound. The Muckleshoot Community Needs Assessment seeks to gather data on the housing and other programming needs of Muckleshoot Reservation residents and Tribal members. The needs assessment will also inform a permanent supportive housing development in partnership with BeauxSimone Consulting and RTHawk Housing Alliance.
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Community Needs Assessment and Housing Fabrication Facility Feasibility Study
Fort Hall, Idaho
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are federally-recognized tribes residing on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, located in the eastern Snake River Plain of southeastern Idaho near the town of Pocatello, Idaho. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall comprise the eastern and western bands of the Northern Shoshone and the Bannock, or Northern Paiute, bands. After the success of the 2016 Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Community Needs Assessment, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have launched the 2021 Shoshone-Bannock Community Needs Assessment and Housing Fabrication Facility Feasibility Study.
White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment
Whiteriver, Arizona
The White Mountain Apache Housing Authority (WMAHA) initiated the White Mountain Apache Housing Needs Assessment on behalf of the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT) in order to develop forward-looking planning and program management and to identify and measure the needs of communities throughout the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. The Tribe selected Big Water Consulting to coordinate the effort and provide training and technical assistance throughout the project. This housing needs assessment included a household survey that collected data from 654 homes on the reservation and had an overall response rate of 97.2%.
South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition Appraisal Market Study
The Appraisal Market Study was commissioned by the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition (SDNHC) to describe the market for home appraisals on the nine Indian reservations in South Dakota and enable appraisers to evaluate the potential business opportunities available to them on reservation lands. Big Water Consulting used existing, available data from federal, state, and Tribal sources and interviewed and surveyed appraisers, lenders, and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHES) to help determine the composition, size, value, and growth for valuation services on reservations within South Dakota.
Red Cliff Housing Needs Assessment
Bayfield, Wisconsin
The Red Cliff Reservation is located on the shores of Lake Superior in north Wisconsin near the town of Bayfied, Wisconsin. This area experiences an extreme winter climate and a highly seasonal economy focused primarily on tourism. After completing a successful Tribal Census and Community Needs Assessment in 2018 (97% household survey response rate), the Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority launched the Red Cliff Housing Needs Assessment in February 2020 in order to gather data to support and guide planned housing development and which could be used to challenge and replace the Census Bureau data used to determine the Tribe’s housing funding allocation.
Lac Courte Oreilles Community Assessment
Hayward, Wisconsin
The Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation is a largely wooded area in north-central Wisconsin that is punctuated by lakes, streams and the Chippewa flowage. Big Water Consulting trained the local Survey Manager and field staff to canvass the reservation and update the Tribe’s housing unit map prior to conducting a household survey involving a random sample of 945 housing units on the reservation. A paper survey form was also mailed to off-reservation members living in Sawyer County. An online survey form was also made available to the on-reservation and off-reservation survey respondents via a survey code provided to households included in the sample.
Native Village of Barrow Housing Needs Assessment
Barrow, Alaska
The Native Village of Barrow (NVB) is the northernmost community in Alaska, located north of the Arctic Circle. Data collected through a household survey enabled NVB to refine their housing map and illustrated a number of challenges faced by the community, including high costs of living (beyond rent, mortgage, and utilities), limited housing stock, and prevalent overcrowding. Results will be used to engage the Native Corporation and Borough partners in shared planning and provision of services.
Pokagon Tribal Census
Dowagiac, Michigan
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi has no reservation and its members are distributed throughout the United States and the world. The Band has made great efforts to spur economic development within its service area in Michigan and Indiana and the surrounding region. The Tribal Census, conducted every five years to support a constitutionally mandated comprehensive planning process, was implemented through a mail-out survey delivered to all households with an enrolled Pokagon citizen, regardless of whether they lived inside or outside the Band’s service area. The resulting dataset is now being used to inform decisions related to land acquisition, economic development, education spending, program administration, and the development of new services.
Red Cliff Tribal Census and Community Needs Assessment
Bayfield, Wisconsin
The Red Cliff Indian Reservation is a remote community located on the shores of Lake Superior on the northern tip of the Bayfield peninsula in Wisconsin. It has a recreation and resource-based economy and a large number of seasonally vacant units and second homes. The project, which included a reservation-wide household survey, enabled the Band to correct distortions in existing data resulting from the income disparities and demographic differences between full-time residents (who are generally Native) and seasonal residents (who are generally not). In addition, the data will be used to develop a Comprehensive Plan and identify specific options to address resident needs and create opportunities for individual and collective development.
Tohono O'odham Nation Census Challenge
Sells, Arizona
The Tohono O'odham Nation is a large tribe whose lands are located along the US-Mexico border in southern Arizona. Many Tohono O’odham move between Tucson and the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, where there are a substantial number of traditionally constructed homes. Data collected through a housing unit condition assessment and a household survey documented every structure on reservation and trust lands, successfully enumerated the non-transient population, revealed the challenges of households living in traditional homes, and is being used to support comprehensive planning as well as challenge U.S. Census data used in the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) formula.
Seattle Indian Services Commission (SISC) King County AIAN Housing and Human Services Needs Assessment
King County, Washington
Big Water coordinated with SISC and its partner stakeholders (e.g., United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Seattle Indian Health Board, Chief Seattle Club, Mother Nation, and Cowlitz Tribal Health Services) to design and implement a study to assess the need for Native housing and other vital services in the urban core of King County, Washington. Information collected through a survey, focus groups, and interviews will help guide the Commission’s planning efforts for supportive services and a new 160-unit affordable housing development.
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Tribal Needs Assessment
Fort Hall, Idaho
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are federally-recognized tribes residing on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, which is located in the eastern Snake River Plain of southeastern Idaho near the town of Pocatello. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes 2016 Tribal Needs Assessment includes a Household Survey, Homeownership Survey, and a Youth Survey. This project helped the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes launch their Tribal Homeownership Opportunities Program (THOP) which coincided with the launch of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The findings from this project will continue to help the tribal government and its programs attract new funding, better plan for tribal programs, improve services, and address homebuyer readiness through preparation courses.
South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition (SDNHC) Housing Needs Studies
Eagle Butte and Mission, South Dakota
Big Water worked with the Cheyenne River Housing Authority and the Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) to conduct two homeownership assessment studies commissioned by Lakota Funds and SDNHC. Analysis of existing data, as well as data collected through an intercept survey and key informant interviews, provided insight into perceived obstacles to homeownership, anticipated changes in housing supply and demand, levels of interest in and qualifications for homeownership, as well as other issues specific to each community. Results are being used to facilitate the development of homeownership and CDFI programs; two additional Housing Needs Studies were launched in 2018.
Dakota Housing Needs Assessment Pilot Project
Pine Ridge, Eagle Butte, Rosebud, Lower Brule (South Dakota) and Belcourt (North Dakota)
In cooperation with the Oglala Sioux (Lakota) Housing Authority, Sicangu Wicoti Awanyakapi (SWA) Corporation (Rosebud), Cheyenne River Housing Authority, Turtle Mountain Housing Authority, Lower Brule Housing Authority, Big Water designed and coordinated housing unit mapping and household surveys on five reservations. The purpose of the project was to collect population and housing needs data for each tribe that could be used to challenge and replace U.S. Census data, as authorized by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA). The project also developed a model for collaborative, large-scale tribal data collection.