‘My own space’: Salish Kootenai Housing Authority unveils 9 new homes on reservation

FLATHEAD RESERVATION — Several decades ago, then-Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority Director Bob Gauthier bought 20 acres outside Pablo on the Flathead Indian Reservation and gifted it to the tribes.

He had a vision that someday, the land would be developed for homeownership.

The Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority held a dedication on Aug. 13, 2024, in Pablo for the new Gauthier Homesites.

SHANNA MADISON, Missoulian

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes at the time conducted an environmental assessment on the property, surveyed the land, subdivided it into lots, and hired a civil engineering team to design infrastructure plans, like water and sewage. While those plans were drawn up, the project ultimately stalled because the cost of implementing the infrastructure was too high.

Communities nationwide face housing crises, and the problem is exacerbated in Indian Country, where people are forced to engage with slow and opaque government processes, where Termination Era policy contributes to widespread inequity and where limited federal funding does not come close to meeting massive infrastructure needs or community demand.

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