The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Housing Authority is happy to inform the general public that every community will have street signs. Street signs will soon be installed at the intersection of every street in each Reservation community including subdivisions. All residents who live in the Lame Deer community for example will no longer need to wonder what their physical address is supposed to be and will no longer need to make one up. Physical addressing is not only necessary but it is now required. Up to now, if a resident of our tribe wants to obtain a drivers license, have a driver’s license renewed, purchase a vehicle or rifle or to apply to have a satellite t-v installed, a physical address is required. This has not changed today. A resident who needs a physical address for any reason will no longer need to guess or make one up. Each residence will now have its own unique address to use when needed.
For over the past two years Ed Joiner, DES Coordinator, and with cooperation with Michael Bearcomesout BIA Forestry and the Northern Cheyenne Housing Authority have been working on this project because physical addressing for housing and the 911 Enhancement project is one in the same but will have different uses and needs..
This addressing is not new. The community of Lame Deer for instance, was surveyed and subdivisions were created. The Tribal Council at the time approved these surveys and subdivision layouts. Some go back more than thirty years. Lame Deer was subdivided into several subdivisions. At present, there is Big Back, Crazy Head Heights. Two Moons, Spotted Elk Heights, Ridge Walker Heights, Sweet Medicine, Federal/Tribal Reserve, Public School Reserve, Shoulder Blade Heights, Westside Housing and the Town site of Lame Deer.
As reported by Ed Joiner last year, we have been working as a team on the 911 Enhancement projects. The emphasis of the project was to improve our emergency response times and to become more efficient.
As many of us know, it has been hard to give directions to people who are trying to find someone’s residence. A lot of times you hear someone say “you go down two blocks, turn left and it’s the third house on the right. It should be a green house with a black and white dog sitting at the corner” Well over the summer the house got painted and it’s now blue and the black and white dog has wondered off and now lives across town and you are not sure if you are at the correct house. This is the same problem our emergency responders have at times. How much easier would it be to say that the address is 4505 Blue Spruce Road? And have a map to see where the street is located as an added convenience. So if you live on highway 212 and you are between the 34 and 35 mile marker your address may be 34515 Highway 212. This way it is easy to find the address as it is basically halfway between the 34 and 35 mile marker.
Most streets and roads were named when these subdivisions were surveyed and approved by the than Tribal Council over thirty years ago. Some roads that did not appear on these original surveys will be named in honor of a tribal member who may have lived in that area or having other historic connection to the area.
Over 95% of these streets have a name. Some minor changes and names will be proposed. This combined project has been a huge undertaking that has taken many months to finally reach a point where we can now present to the Tribal Council in an effort to get a resolution passed to officially recognize the street names etc.
There will be some other changes proposed. The numbering for the Town site of Lame Deer will be reversed. Currently, these streets run from north to south. The new numbering will simply be reversed and will now run from south starting at a higher number and ending at a smaller number. This will coincide with the highway markers on the Muddy Creek highway markers that start at 0 and proceed to larger number at each mile marker.
Eventually, each residence will receive a new house number clearly visible to help in physical addressing and to make it easy for emergencies and/or for the general public.
The signs, poles, and all the necessary hardware will be ordered as soon as this plan has been presented and approved by the Tribal Council. Thanks to the American Reinvestment Recovery Act (ARRA) or (stimulus funding) that has made this endeavor possible. Thanks to Ed Joiner and Michael Bearcomesout who spent many hours in trying to find a way to make this project work and become a reality. Thanks to the Reservation Roads Inventory coordinator, Janice Spear and Shawn Stump for their support and expertise. Thanks to Waylon Rogers, Floyd Highwalker and especially Lisa Limpy who provided most of the technical computer knowledge and skill when we needed at the most crucial time. Thanks to Lonnie Flatness (BIA), Adrian Foote and John Jordan (I.H.S) for their input in making this project a success that will certainly put us on the MAP!