"This book is a timely and important tool for the empowerment of communities facing housing deficits.The Red Feather project is extremely important; it is truly making a difference."Jane Goodall For more than a decade the Red Feather Development Group, a volunteer-based organization, has built and repaired straw bale houses for Native Americans. Somewhere along the wayand this was certainly not the planthey created an architectural phenomenon: This inexpensive, environmentally sound, easily constructed, and downright beautiful form of building has, for good reason,caught the public's imagination. Here, Red Feather provides a step-by-step, easy-to-follow manual for would-be strawbalebuildersindeed, they supply everything you'll need but time, energy, and lots and lots of straw. Informative sections on safety, design, tools, and materials, and case studies picked from over thirty-five Red Feather projects give a comprehensive overview to straw-bale building. But this book is much more than a construction manual. It is also the inspiring story of Red Feather itself, a tale of community action and cooperation that suggests a can-do solution to the growing housing crisis on America's Native American reservations.