There's a constant hum from the furnace in Celine Whane’s house in Behchokǫ̀ , N.W.T., as it runs non-stop to counter the cold air flowing in from door stuck ajar.

The door doesn’t have a handle and needs to be propped shut with a chair, though it's not the only source of cold. One of her windows is sealed by duct tape. Whane, who's in her late 70s, thinks both of these, along with the cracks in her wall, are the result of shifting ground that damages the infrastructure of the home she’s lived in for over 40 years.

Her living conditions reflect a larger issue: a shortage of adequate housing in Behchokǫ̀, the Tłı̨chǫ, and the N.W.T. as a whole.

At any time there might be two to seven people living with her in the three-bedroom home. Mattresses are laid out to accommodate them all. At

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