Homes made of recycled materials have sprung up across the country in recent years, but it’s the first time one will be built on a First Nations reserve 
 
 Francine Doxtator is on a search for used tires. “We’re all looking forward to the new home,” she said with a smile, adding, “but I still don’t believe it’s happening.” 
 
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 In the next two weeks, on a small hill just steps away from her trailer, her new home will begin to take shape. While several of these homes – known as earthships – have sprung up across Canada in recent years, this will be the company’s first time building one on a First Nations reserve in Canada. These sustainable homes have been installed in India, Haiti, Sierra Leone, and other countries to empower local communities – and now the Earthship team is bringing its housing model to First Nations communities facing a housing crisis in Canada. “I really don’t know what to expect,” says Matt Hill, one of the First Nations volunteers. Francine Doxtator and her family are among the first members of the First Nations to collaborate with Earthship Biotechture on such a project. Photograph: Earthship Biotecture 
 
 The idea of earthships as a panacea to address some of the housing demand on First Nations communities is complicated by the strict building codes that govern new builds on reserves, said Hill. Also, as some models of earthships don’t qualify for traditional mortgages or home loans, the estimated C$60,000 cost of replicating the house being built for Doxtator remains prohibitive to many. “I would love to see this happen for more people,” Doxtator said softly. “We try and respect Mother Earth, says Doxtator. “Right now we’re ruining her. We have to look after her so she can look after us.” 
 
 Glancing at the pile of tires, her only hesitation is a superficial one – what exactly would a home built on these principles look like? With a laugh she added, “I just hope it doesn’t look like a Flintstones house in the end.”
– Could earthships be the solution to the housing crisis in Canada's First Nations communities? US company Earthship Biotecture thinks so. “This housing that we make is made to take care of people. Feed them, keep them warm, with no utility bills," the company's Michael Reynolds tells the Guardian. By contrast, he adds, “Really, all government housing is junk." But what's an earthship? According to Inhabitat, it's a "low-cost home that strives for self-sufficiency ... built primarily with recycled materials." Earthship Biotecture has built earthships for people in need in several countries, such as Haiti, India, and Sierra Leone. Now it is building one on Canada's First Nations reserve. According to the Calgary Herald, the reality for many reserve residents is overcrowded, sub-standard housing. Take Francine Doxtator, for instance. She lives in a leaky trailer, "ravaged by mice and black mold," with her disabled daughter and five grandchildren. Soon, however, Doxtator and her family will be the first First Nations family to move into an earthship. "I still don’t believe it’s happening,” she tells the Guardian. The $57,000 house, funded by Earthship Biotecture, contributions, and fundraising, will include solar panels, a cistern to collect rainwater, and hundreds of old tires that will "create a dense thermomass" for temperature regulation. Local volunteers will help build it. The hope is to eventually have a local team that can help others build earthships of their own. But, one of the volunteers tells the Guardian, strict building codes may be a hurdle, as well raising the money to build an earthship in the first place. As excited as she is for her new digs, Doxator does have one concern: “I just hope it doesn’t look like a Flintstones house in the end.”