People around the country have been following the progress of work on the Payne Family Native American Center in the heart of the University of Montana campus, the Missoulian’s Chelsi Moy reports here today (Follow the link for a video tour of the building):

“They are all very excited about the opening,” said UM tribal liaison Linda Juneau, who recently returned from the National Indian Education Conference where other colleges said they are looking to UM’s Native American Center as a model for their campuses.

“Montana has created a lot of excitement,” she said.

The building – which faces east and honors the 12 tribes within Montana’s borders – is set for completion next month, and dedication is set for May 13, the Thursday before the university’s spring commencement.

The center is the first certified energy-efficient building on campus.

“One of the most important aspects from the Native standpoint is the fact that it’s doing minimal damage to Mother Earth,” says Daniel Glenn, a member of the Crow Tribe and principal of Glenn & Glenn Architects Engineers, PLLC.

Every aspect of the design incorporates Native themes, Moy writes:

The building was designed around the concept of a 12-sided dodecagon rotunda, one side representing each of the dozen tribes in Montana. The name of each tribe is listed in a circular fashion around the rotunda.

Parfleche patterns representing each tribe are etched and stained into the floor. A wall of windows allows for a panoramic view of the Oval, Main Hall and Mount Sentinel…. The rotunda is reminiscent of a tepee or sweat lodge, with a circle on the floor constructed partly from a salvaged larch tree cut on site, and a skylight in the ceiling.

As Juneau says of atmosphere within the building: “There’s a calming effect. It’s meant to feel like home.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Glenn & Glenn Architects Engineers, Gwen Florio, National Indian Education Conference, Native American news, Payne Family Native American Center, University of Montana