The Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority's newest residential development recently won an award from the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development as an outstanding example of tribal governance.

The housing authority was one of 10 Honoring Nations award winners for 2008.

Tsigo bugeh Village, in Tewa, Chico Valley, was recognized for restoring communal living through modern, pueblo-style housing, community participation in the project and the use of different financing programs.

"In the beginning, I didn't realize what a big thing this is," said housing authority Executive Director Tomasita Duran. "I remember when we submitted our application, I was looking for ... the funds because we could use that, but it wasn't until we actually went to go get the award after we won, and got to hear all the other projects ... that I came to realize and understand the significance of the award."

"It's pretty incredible to know that what we are doing is helping our community," said Catherine Apodaca, the Tsigo bugeh property manager.

The housing authority is using the $10,000 award to develop a Web site for Ohkay Owingeh that will include a section about Tsigo bugeh's development and a list of tips for other tribes that are entertaining the idea of doing something similar. Duran said the Web site will likely be up by the end of November.

Tsigo bugeh was a response to a pueblo housing crisis. Ohkay Owingeh was growing, but there was nowhere for older children in many families to go. The most recent development was a subdivision of 24 units built in 1997.

"We had a waiting list of 80 families," Duran said.

The pueblo realized that relying solely on federal funding for housing projects led to substandard buildings, high maintenance costs and sprawl — since previous homes were on separate lots.

Duran and her team decided they wanted to do something different. She looked into the idea of using federal low-income tax credits as well as loans and grants to fund the $4 million project.

Rounding up architects and contractors from outside the pueblo, she knew she wanted everybody on the team to get a taste of Ohkay Owingeh. "We did an orientation, where I took them to the pueblo and showed them the boundaries of the reservation and our tribal lakes. I showed them everything I could possibly find," Duran said. "If they were going to work with us, they really needed to understand who we were and what we're about."

Duran also had public dialogue with community elders and other community members to ask them about what it was like to live in the pueblo and to get their ideas about the new community.

The design that came out of all those events was something that reflected traditional pueblo living — attached units divided around two plazas, one oriented to the solstice and the other to the equinox, which is a feature, Duran said, that was part of the original pueblo. The 40-unit development offers one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments. Six hornos (outdoor ovens) are available for tenants to use throughout the property. A community meeting space, playground, computer room, weight room, business center and laundry facility are available to residents. Residents must be members of the tribe, and if a nonmember wants to move in with a member, he or she must get approval from the Tribal Council. Rent for the units ranges from $204 to $576 a month, Apodaca said.

Tsigo bugeh, which was completed in 2003, had many "firsts," Duran said — it was the first time Ohkay Owingeh had used federal low-income tax credits. Now, tribal members can apply for the units they want to rent. Before, Duran said, the Tribal Council would decide which families got which homes.

Tsigo bugeh will remain a village of rental units for another nine years because of the stipulations of the tax credits used to help pay for it. But once that period is over, Duran hopes to open up the option for tenants to be able to purchase their units.

The housing authority and the Tsay Corp., the economic development committee of the tribe, are already working on a new development plan called Main Street.

Duran plans to start fundraising for Main Street in 2011. "It's down the road," she said, "but it's in the plans."

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.