A longhouse at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

In archaeology and anthropology, a long house or longhouse is a type of long, narrow, single room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America.

Many were built from timber and often represent the earliest form of permanent structure in many cultures. Types include the Neolithic long house of Europe, the Medieval Dartmoor longhouse and the Native American long house.

Europe

A reconstructed Viking Age house.

In archaeology there are two European longhouse types that are now extinct.

• The Neolithic long house type was introduced with the first farmers of central and western Europe around 5000 BCE—7000 years ago.
• The Germanic cattle farmer longhouses emerged along the southwestern North Sea coast in the third or fourth century BC and might be the ancestors of several medieval house types such as the Scandinavian langhus, the English, Welsh and Scottish longhouse variants and the German and Dutch Fachhallenhaus.

The medieval longhouse types of Europe of which some examples have survived are among others:

• The Scandinavian or Viking Langhus
• The southwest England variants in Dartmoor and Wales
• The northwest England type in Cumbria
• The Scottish Longhouse, “Black house” or taighean dubha
• The Frisian Langhuis
• The French longère or maison longue (with different versions from different origins)

The Americas

In North America two groups of longhouses emerged. The Native American long house of the tribes usually connected with the Iroquois in the northeast and an unrelated type used by many tribes long the west and northwest Pacific coast of North America.

In south America the Tucano people of Columbia and northwest Brazil traditionally combine a household in a single long house.

Asia

ancient Mumun pottery period culture

In Daepyeong, an archaeological site of the Mumun pottery period in Korea long houses have been found that date to circa 1100-850 B.C. Their layout seems to be similar to those of the Iroquois of America.

Taiwan

Maybe the long house is an old building tradition among the people of austronesian origin or intensive contact. The austronesian language group seems to have spread to south east Asia and the pacific islands as well as Madagascar from the island of Taiwan. Groups like the Siraya of ancient Taiwan did built long houses and practiced head hunting as did for example the later Dayaks of Borneo.

Borneo longhouse

A Modern Iban Longhouse in Kapit Division

Many of the inhabitants of the Southeast Asian island of Borneo (now Kalimantan), the Dayak, live traditionally in buildings known as a longhouse, Rumah panjang in Malay, rumah panjai in Iban. Common to most of these is that they are built raised off the ground on stilts and are divided into a more or less public area along one side and a row of private living quarters lined along the other side. This seems to have been the way of building best accustomed to life in the jungle in the past, as otherwise hardly related people have come to build their dwellings in similar ways. One may observe similarities to South American jungle villages also living in large single structures. The design is elegant: being raised, flooding presents little inconvenience. The entry could double as a canoe dock. Being raised, cooling air could circulate as well as have the living area above ground where any breeze is more likely. Livestock could shelter below at night when their security might be a concern.

In modern times many of the older longhouses have been replaced with buildings using more modern materials but of similar design. In areas where flooding is not a problem, beneath the longhouse between the stilts, which was traditionally used for a work place for tasks such as threshing, has been converted into living accommodation or has been closed in to provide more security.

The layout of a traditional longhouse could be described thus:

Along the whole length of the building runs a wall placed near the middle. The one side would seem like a corridor or hall from one end to the other, while the other side is blocked from public view by the wall.

Behind this wall lay the private units, bilik, each with a single door for each family. These are usually divided from each other by walls of their own and contain the living and sleeping spaces. The kitchens, dapor, sometimes reside within this space but are quite often situated in rooms of their own, added to the back of a bilik or even in a building standing a little away from the longhouse and accessed by a small bridge due to the fear of fire, as well as reducing smoke and insects attracted to cooking from gathering in living quarters..

The corridor itself is divided into three parts. The space in front of the door, the tempuan, belongs to each bilik unit and is used privately. This is where rice can be pounded or other domestic work can be done. A public corridor, a ruai, basically used like a village road, runs the whole length in the middle of the open hall. Along the outer wall is the space where guests can sleep, the pantai. On this side a large veranda, a tanju, is built in front of the building where the rice (padi) is dried and other outdoor activities can take place. Under the roof is a sort of attic, the sadau, that runs along the middle of the house under the peak of the roof. Here the padi, other food, and other things can be stored. Sometimes the sadau has a sort of gallery from which the life in the ruai can be observed. The pigs and chicken live underneath the house between the stilts.

The houses built by the different tribes and ethnic groups can differ from each other. Houses described as above may be used by the Iban Sea Dayak and Melanau Sea Dayak. Similar houses are built by the Bidayuh, Land Dayak, however with wider verandas and extra buildings for the unmarried adults and visitors. The buildings of the Kayan, Kenyah, Murut, and Kelabit used to have fewer walls between individual bilik units. The Punan seem to be the last ethnic group that adopted this type of house building. The Rungus of Sabah in north Borneo build a type of longhouse with rather short stilts, the house raised three to five feet of the ground, and walls sloped outwards.

A lot of place names in Sarawak still have the word “Long” in their name and most of these still are or once were longhouses. Some villages like Long Semado in Sarawak even have airfields of their own. Regions with long houses are for example Ulu Anyut and Ulu Paku in Sarawak. Another long house is the Punan sama.

Siberut

A traditional house type on the island of Siberut, part of the Mentawai Islands some 130 kilometers (81 mi) to the west off the coast of Sumatra (Sumatera), Indonesia is also described as a longhouse. Some five to ten families may live in each, but they are organised differently on the inside.

Vietnam

A Mnong longhouse in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

The Mnong of Vietnam also have a tradition of building long houses. In contrast to the jungle versions of Borneo these sport shorter stilts and seem to use a veranada in front of a short (gable) side as main entrance.

Nepal

The Tharu people are indigenous people living in the Terai plains on the border of Nepal and India. A smaller number of Tharus live in India, mostly in Champaran District of Bihar and in Nainital District of Uttar Pradesh.^[1] The Tharu live in longhouses which may hold up to 150 people. The longhouses are built of mud with lattice walls^[2] They grow barley, wheat, maize, and rice, as well as raise animals such as chickens, ducks, pigs, and goats. In the big rivers, they use large nets to fish.^[3]

Because the Tharu lived in isolation in malarial swamps until the recent use of DDT, they developed a style of decorating the walls, rice containers and other objects in their environment. The Tharu women transform outer walls and verandahs of their homes into colorful paintings dedicated to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity and fertility.

 *Information supplied by wikipedia*

Uzbek woman at the entrance to a yurt in Turkestan; 1913 picture by Prokudin-Gorskii.

The word yurt is originally from the Turkic word meaning “dwelling place” in the sense of “homeland”; the term came to be used in reference to the physical tent-like structures only in other languages. In Russian, the structure is called “yurta” (юрта). (There is an obsolete term “kibitka” (кибитка).) From Russian, the word came into English, and is also the basis for the term horde, meaning palace (from Mongolian word ordu).

In Kazakh (and Uyghur) the term for the structure is kiyiz üy (киіз үй, lit. “felt home”). In Kyrgyz the term is “boz üý (боз үй)”, literally “grey house”, because of the colour of the felt. In Mongolian it is called a ger (гэр). Afghans and Pakistanis call them “Kherga”/”Jirga” or “ooee”. In Pakistan “گہر”.

Construction

The yurt consists of a circular wooden frame carrying a felt cover. The felt is made from the wool of the flocks of sheep that accompany the pastoralists. The timber to make the external structure is not to be found on the treeless steppes, and must be traded for in the valleys below.

The frame consists of one or more lattice wall-sections, a door-frame, roof poles and a crown. Some styles of yurt have one or more columns to support the crown. The (self-supporting) wood frame is covered with pieces of felt. Depending on availability, the felt is additionally covered with canvas and/or sun-covers. The frame is held together with one or more ropes or ribbons. The structure is kept under compression by the weight of the covers, sometimes supplemented by a heavy weight hung from the center of the roof. They vary regionally, with straight or bent roof-poles, different sizes, and relative weight.

Symbolism

The wooden lattice crown of the yurt (Kazakh: shangrak) is itself emblematic in many Central Asian cultures. In old Kazakh communities, the yurt itself would often be repaired and rebuilt, but the shangrak would remain intact, passed from father to son upon the father’s death. A family’s length of heritage could be measured by the accumulation of stains on the shangrak from generations of smoke passing through it. A stylized version of the crown (called tunduk (түндүк) in Kyrgyz) forms the main image on the flag of Kyrgyzstan.

Western yurts

Enthusiasts in other countries have taken the visual idea of the yurt — a round, semi-permanent tent — and have adapted it to their cultural needs. Although those structures may be copied to some extent from the originals found in Central Asia, they have been greatly changed and adapted and are in most cases very different.

In the United States and Canada, yurts are made using hi-tech materials. They are highly engineered and built for extreme weather conditions. In addition, erecting one can take days and they are not intended to be moved often. Often the designs of these North American yurts barely resemble the originals; they are better named yurt derivations, because they are no longer round felt homes that are easy to mount, dismount and transport. North American yurts and yurt derivations were pioneered by William Coperthwaite (founder of the Yurt Foundation) in the 1960s^[1], after he was inspired to build them by an article about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’s visit to Mongolia^[2].

In Europe, a closer approximation to the Mongolian and Central Asian yurt is in production in several countries. These tents use local hardwood, and often are adapted for a wetter climate with steeper roof profiles and waterproof canvas. In essence they are yurts, but some lack the felt cover that is present in traditional yurt.

Different groups and individuals use yurts for a variety of purposes, from full-time housing to school rooms. In some provincial parks in Canada, and state parks in several US states, permanent yurts are available for camping.

*Information supplied by wikipedia*

It is built of a light wooden frame covered with reindeer skins sewn together. A medium-size yaranga requires about 50 skins.

Yaranga originates from the Persian word yarangah. During the height of the Persian Empire, Persian was spoken from the Arabian Peninsula to Siberia. The word may have been transferred to local languages of Eastern Russia during that period.

Yaran means ‘companion/guest’ while gah means ‘a place’. So yarangah refers to the place of the guest or companion. The tents may have been called yaranga as they were the place of rest for travelers as well as their guests.

Types of igloo

Big igloo in front of Kinngait in southern region of Baffin Island.

There are three types of igloo, all of different sizes and all are used for different purposes.

The smallest of all iglooit was constructed as a temporary shelter. Hunters while out on the land or sea ice camped in one of these iglooit for one or two nights.

Next in size was the semi-permanent, intermediate sized family dwelling. This usually was a single room dwelling that housed one or two families. Often there were several of these in a small area, which formed an “Inuit village”.

The largest of the igloos was normally built in groups of two. One of the buildings was a temporary building constructed for special occasions, the other was built near by for living. This was constructed either by enlarging a smaller igloo or building from scratch. These could have up to five rooms and housed up to 20 people. A large igloo may have been constructed from several smaller igloos attached by their tunnels giving a common access to the outside. These were used to hold community feasts, traditional dances (see Inuit music) and Katajjaq.

Constructing an igloo

Igloo, Sideview diagram; opening to the right. Yellow signifies ground.

The snow used to build an igloo must have sufficient structural strength to be cut and stacked in the appropriate manner. The best snow to use for this purpose is snow which has been blown by wind, which can serve to compact and interlock the ice crystals. The hole left in the snow where the blocks are cut from is usually used as the lower half of the shelter. Sometimes, a short tunnel is constructed at the entrance to reduce wind and heat loss when the door is opened. Due to snow’s excellent insulating properties, inhabited igloos are surprisingly comfortable and warm inside. In some cases a single block of ice was inserted to allow light into the igloo.

Igloo, Snowbrick laying method.

Architecturally, the igloo is unique in that it is a dome that can be raised out of independent blocks leaning on each other and polished to fit without an additional supporting structure during construction. The igloo, if correctly built, will support the weight of a person standing on the roof. Also, in the traditional Inuit igloo the heat from the kulliq (stone lamp) caused the interior to melt slightly. This melting and refreezing built up an ice sheet and contributed to the strength of the igloo.

A 1916 drawing of the interior of an Alaskan igloo

The sleeping platform is a raised area compared to where one enters the igloo. Because warmer air rises and cooler air settles, the entrance area will act as a cold trap whereas the sleeping area will hold whatever heat is generated by a stove, lamp or body heat.

Modifications

The Central Inuit, especially those around the Davis Strait, line the living area with skin, which can increase the temperature within from around 2 °C (36 °F) to 10-20 °C (50-68 °F).

Heraldry

In heraldry, the igloo appears as the crest in the coat of arms of Nunavut.

Other kinds of snowhouses

A snow house made in Finland

For fun, or for winter camping and survival purposes, it is possible to construct a simple, but similar kind of snow shelter (called a quinzhee in some areas) by creating a large pile of snow and excavating the inside. The snow need not be of the same quality as required for an igloo, and the construction is more forgiving. Such shelters are usually not as sturdy and permanent as proper igloos. After the snow is piled up it needs to be compacted for instance by patting the pile with hands or a spade, since a fresh pile of snow may not be stable.

Before excavating one can put sticks in the roof and wall approximately 10 in (25 cm) deep to be used as a guide when digging out the interior. A trick to building a snowhouse much faster and with less labor is to first make a pile of cardboard boxes and then cover the box pile with snow. Then cut open the door and pull out the boxes. This means one needs to use much less snow or can build a much bigger snowhouse.

To make the snowhouse more robust, one should pour water over it after cutting the door. This makes it harder and sturdier; furthermore its slipperiness discourages anyone from climbing on top of it. People climbing on the house are the primary reason why snowhouses collapse, a collapsing snowhouse can be very dangerous if someone gets caught inside. Just as in an avalanche the weight of the snow often makes it impossible to dig oneself free. Suffocation may occur if the occupants are not rescued quickly enough.

*Information supplied by wikipedia*

Today, they are usually covered in canvas and lived in by American Indian families attending Powwows or Encampments, teaching further generations of traditions. Tipis are also used by historical reenactors and “back to the land” people, and in some places they are used for tourist lodgings.

The word “tipi” comes into English from the Lakota language; the word thípi consists of two elements: the verb thí, meaning “to dwell,” and a pluralizing enclitic (a suffix-like ending that marks the subject of the verb as plural), pi, and means “they dwell.” In Lakota, formal verbs can be used as nouns, and this is the case with thípi, which in practice just means “house.”

The term “wigwam” is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a dwelling of this type.

USE

The tipi was designed to enable an indoor fire for heating and sometimes cooking. The fire is set in the center of the bare floor. There are two smoke flaps at the top of the tipi which can be adjusted with long poles. These smoke flaps are set at right angles to the wind, preventing the wind blowing down the chimney. In historic tipis a liner or ozan was used in winter and to help prevent drafts. A liner aids in keeping inhabitants warm in winter. To enable a fire in inclement weather, when the liner is closed completely, a buried pipe can be installed which brings air directly to the base of the fire.

In strong winds the lashing rope is pegged to the ground behind the fire. This helps to keep the tipi poles from “walking”, lifting up under the force of the wind on the skin and coming down in a new position. A tipi which is pegged around the base and has had its lashing rope tied down is a remarkably wind-resistant cone.

In hot weather the lining is not used, the out side skin is unpegged and is rolled up a few feet on two sides. Any small breeze creates ventilation.

A tipi is not the best shelter during times of intense rain. Contemporary tipi-dwellers tie a bucket beneath the crown, or install rubber barriers on the poles and a canvas rain-catcher which drains from the crown to the outside, to collect rain dripping off the crown of the poles.

CONSTRUCTION

The first step in setting up a tipi is to tie together three of the poles at the skin’s radius from their bases. One end of this lashing rope is left dangling from the tie-point, long enough to reach the base of the poles. These tripod poles are stood upright, with their unfastened ends spaced apart on the ground to form a triangle, each pole’s base the skin’s radius from its neighbors. A dozen more long poles are laid onto the three primary poles. Their upper ends rest on the lashing of the first three, and the lower ends are evenly spaced to form a circle on the ground which includes the original three poles. The lashing rope is then walked around the whole structure three times and pulled tight. This ties the placed poles to the tripod at the crown of the tipi. The canvas skin is tied to another pole, lifted up and the top of the pole is rested where all the poles meet. The skin is pulled around the pole framework. The overlap seam is closed with wooden lacing pins which are thin sticks about 10 inches long with one or both ends tapered. Sometimes a door is attached to one of the bottom lacing pins. In old tipis of hide or early cloth, the door was where the two sides came together in the front. A blanket, hide or cloth door was put over the opening to secure the entrance.

The base of the skin is pegged to the ground. Traditionally pegs were placed in slits at the bottom of the cover. As canvas or cloth came into use, smooth pebbles were pushed into the cloth and a cord tied between the bulge of cloth and a wooden peg in the ground. A gap can be allowed at ground level for airflow in warm seasons and the base is completely closed to the ground in cooler times. The bases of the non-tripod poles are moved in or out to tension the skin. Inside the tipi, a cord is wrapped from pole to pole above head height. An inner lining/ozan can be suspended from this cord and pushed back on the ground near the inside base of the poles. An interior awning helps prevents rain drips hitting bedding, can be suspended at the top of the lining. Bedding and personal items are pushed against the liner to keep it in place. The inner lining acts as a heat insulator and draft and pest excluder. A liner is not necessary in warm weather.

ELEMENTS

Tipis consist of four elements: a set of ten to twenty sapling poles (depending on the size of the tipi), a canvas or skin cover (the outer shape familiar from photographs), an optional inner canvas or skin lining/ozan, and a canvas or skin door. Ropes and pegs are required to bind the poles, close the cover, attach the lining and door, and anchor the resulting structure to the ground. Tipis are distinguished from other tents by two crucial innovations: the opening at the top and the smoke flaps, which allow the dweller to cook and heat themselves with an open fire, and the lining, which insulates while providing a source of fresh air to fire and dwellers. Tipis are designed to be easily set up to allow camps to be moved to follow game migrations, especially the bison. The long poles could be used to construct a dog- or later horse-pulled travois.

Tipi covers are made by sewing together strips of canvas or hide and cutting out a semicircular shape from the resulting surface. Trimming this shape yields a door and the smoke flaps that allow the dwellers to control the chimney effect to expel smoke from their fires. Old style traditional linings/ozans were hides, blankets, and retangular pieces of cloth hanging about four to five feet above the ground tied to the poles or a rope. Todays modern lining is the most difficult element to measure, since it consists of lozenge-shaped strips of canvas assembled to form the shape of a truncated cone. The poles, made of peeled, polished and dried tapering saplings, are cut to measure about six feet more than the radius of the cover.

*Information supplied by wikipedia*

Nez Percé sweat-lodge

The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna and an important ritual used by North American First Nations or Native American peoples. There are several styles of sweat lodges that include a domed or oblong hut similar to a wickiup, a teepee, or even a simple hole dug into the ground and covered with planks or tree trunks. Stones are heated in an exterior fire and then placed in a central pit in the ground. Often the stones are granite and they glow red in the dark lodge.

Cheyenne sweat lodge frame

Construction

In the northern part of North America, the sweat lodge is a low dome-like structure built on earth (as opposed to grass or forest brush). Traditionally it is built with a frame of tree shoots or branches, which are long, thin and very flexible. The tree most commonly used is willow although many other species are used such as lodgepole. Lodges range in size, from diameters of nearly 2 m (six feet) to well over 6 m (eighteen or nineteen feet). They range from 1-1.5 m (three to five feet) in height, as the participants sit or lay down during the ceremony. The lodge is aligned with the four directions, and room for a doorway is provided.

The wood structure is then covered with either blankets, canvas, or sometimes animal skins, and the doorway is made on the east or south side. Sometimes permanent walls of clay are built over the wooden frame. The walls must be thick enough for the lodge to be completely dark inside and to keep in as much heat as possible. In some, a shallow pit is dug in the earth in the center of the lodge where the hot stones from the fire pit will be placed.

During the ceremony, the participants encircle the stone pit inside the lodge. The medicine man, leader of the ceremony, or elder, perhaps better referred to as the pourer, receives the glowing hot stones from the firekeeper and places them in the pit. When enough stones have been placed in the lodge, the medicine man (pourer) closes the door and pours water on top of the stones to fill the lodge with steam. This happens usually four times, with periods of between ten minutes to hours spent sweating in the lodge.

In Ojibway or Anishinaabe ceremonies, there are many songs sung with a drum and rattles, prayers given, and attempts to heal the sick. The lodge door is in the east, toward the sacred fire, and there are rattles for each of the directions. A fire keeper or helper outside passes the red hot granite stones, or grandfathers into the lodge, and puts prayer offerings of tobacco into the fire. The grandfathers are placed into the pit at the center of the lodge. Before the ceremony, there is a cedar strip or line along the ground that is not to be crossed. The little boy water drum is often used in the ceremonies, along with certain medicines that are burnt on the hot stones. As each person enters the lodge on hands and knees, they say their name in Ojibway, and crawl, like a baby, into the womb of the lodge. The women sit on one side, and the men sit on the other. The sweat lodge represents birth and being born out of the darkness, the red glow, the warmth, the wetness, and the small space like a womb. One also crawls out of the lodge, humbled, and like a baby. Everything is usually done in a clockwise direction in the lodge, the same way as the sun travels across the sky. One enters in a clockwise direction, passes rattles clockwise, songs and prayers are given clockwise, and each one leaves clockwise. Most people get their traditional names during the ceremony, and offerings are given of tobacco, food, and other things. The little boy drum is ceremoniously prepared before each sweat lodge and tied in a certain way depending on the teaching given.

Origins

The claims of origin of the sweat lodge are as many as there are tribal cultures. One general version is that the Creator gave the lodge to the people as a way to directly pray or talk with the Creator. The lodge is often seen as a womb, that gives birth and life, and it provides important teachings to the people. Entering the lodge is a sacred happening that involves important rituals and memories. The lodge provides a cleansing of the body, spirit, heart, and mind. Utmost respect is given to the Creator, the lodge, the fire, the medicines, the animals, the four directions, the elders, the participants, and the ceremonies. Thanks is given for the fire’s warmth, the importance of the grandfather rocks, the animals for their skins, and the plants for their medicines. Thanks is given for all the necessary elements of nature that provide us with life and survival.

The lodge is a natural way to bring fire, earth, rocks, water, air, human life, animals, and plants together into one, or close association and contact.

Traditions

Rituals and traditions vary from region to region and tribe to tribe. They often include prayers, drumming, and offerings to the spirit world. Often easier methods and ways are discovered and used, such as using a lighter to start the fire, and using a truck to haul wood and rocks. Even the use of a pitch fork, shovel, and canvas would not be of the oldest traditions. These ceremonies can change over time as certain needs arise. Some common practices and key elements associated with sweat lodges include:

• Orientation – The door usually faces the fire, forming a duality between the lodge and the fire. This duality is, in many traditions, symbolic of the male-female or heaven-earth dualities. Directions usually have distinct symbolism in Native American ceremonies (1). The lodge may be oriented within its environment for a specific purpose; for example, a lodge constructed near a lake could be run with the intention of connecting to the spirit of the lake. Placement and orientation of the lodge within its environment often facilitates the ceremony’s connection with the spirit world.
• Construction – The lodge is generally built with great care and with respect to the environment and to the materials being used. Many traditions construct the lodge in complete silence, some have a drum playing while they build, other traditions have the builders fast during construction. Often, tobacco is placed in each hole made into the Earth and prayed over before the willow pole is placed.
• Clothing – In traditional lodges, participants are nude. In more comtemporary lodges particpants wear a simple brief garment or towel and nudity is most common with male only lodges. In many traditional lodges, men wear shorts, while women wear tee-shirts or similar apparel, with an ankle-length skirt. Aversion to nudity is a result of Christian influence.^{[citation needed]}
• Offerings – Tobacco, sweet grass, redcedar, and other plants are often used to make prayers, give thanks or make other offerings. They can be smoked in a stone pipe, sprinkled on the hot stones or offered to the fire. Prayer ties are also made in many traditions to set the intention of the lodge, show gratitude, purify one’s self before the lodge, summon support from the spirit world, and other such purposes.
• Support – In many traditions, one or more persons (sometimes called “dog soldiers”) will remain outside the sweat lodge to protect the ceremony, and assist the participants. Sometimes they will help tend the fire and place the hot stones, though usually this is done by a designated firekeeper. In another instance, a person that sits in the lodge, next to the door, is charged with protecting the ceremony, and maintaining lodge etiquette.

Etiquette

The most important part of sweat lodge etiquette is respecting the traditions of the lodge leader. Some lodges are done in complete silence, while others involve singing, chanting, wailing, drumming, or other sound. It is important to know what is allowed and expected before entering a lodge. Traditional tribes hold a high value of respect to the lodge. In some cultures, objects, including clothing, without a ceremonial significance are discouraged from being brought into the lodge. The tenet is: enter the lodge as you came into this world. Alternately, other traditional tribes place a high value on modesty as a respect to the lodge. In clothed lodges, women are usually expected to wear skirts or short-sleeved dresses of a longer length. In some traditions, nudity is forbidden in mixed sex sweats. In other traditions mixed gender sweats are forbidden. Still others encourge, if not require mixed gender sweats. Many lodge leaders do not allow menstruating women (these women are often referred to as being on their moon-time) to participate in ceremonies. Some will run a separate lodge for menstruating women. Still others allow them into the lodge after they have completed a purifying ritual, such as making a belt of prayer ties. Perhaps the most important piece of etiquette is gratitude. It is important to be thankful to the people joining you in the lodge, and those helping to support the lodge.

Risks

Wearing metal jewelry can be dangerous as metal objects may become hot enough to burn the wearer. Contact lenses and synthetic clothing should not be worn in sweat lodges as the heat can cause the materials to melt and adhere to eyes, skin, or whatever they might be touching. Cotton clothing is recommended for lodges.

Although the temperature in a sweat lodge can reach that of a traditional sauna, partakers in a ceremony can stay inside for several hours at a time. Some argue that this is due to the ceremonial nature of the lodge. However, emphasis is placed on knowing one’s own limits and knowing when to leave. There have been reports of lodge-related deaths resulting from overexposure to heat, dehydration, and smoke inhalation. Even people who are experienced with sweats could suddenly experience problems due to underlying health issues. It is recommended that a physician check people intending to have a sweat lodge experience.

If rocks are used, it is important not to use river rocks, or other kinds of rocks with air pockets inside them. Often igneous basalt is the best type of rock to consider. Be certain that the rocks are completely dry before heating. Rocks with air pockets or excessive moisture will most likely crack and possibly explode in the fire or when hit by water. This can result in razor-sharp fragments and splinters striking participants with sufficient force to injure or blind. Even rocks used before may absorb humidity or moisture leading to cracks and or shattering.

There is also a risk posed by modern chemical pesticides. When sweet grass, cedar, or certain other plants are sprinkled on the hot rocks, any pesticides accumulated on them can be turned into airborne toxins. These toxins can then be inhaled by the participants. In the past, the potential for the inhalation of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals was not well known. This risk should be considered before participating in a sweat lodge.

*Information supplied by wikipedia*

Apache wickiup, by Edward S. Curtis, 1903

A wigwam or wickiup is a domed single-room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast. The use of these terms by non-Native Americans is somewhat arbitrary and can refer to many distinct types of Native American structures regardless of location or cultural group including the tipi.

Apache wickiup

Structure

Mono wickiup

The domed, round shelter is used by many different Native American cultures. The curved surfaces make it an ideal shelter for all kinds of conditions. It was as safe and warm as the best houses of early colonists.

Paiute wickiup

These structures are formed with a frame of arched poles, most often wooden, which are covered with some sort of roofing material. Details of construction varies with the culture and local availability of materials. Some of the roofing materials used include grass, brush, bark, rushes, mats, reeds, hides or cloth.

‘Wigwam’ in different languages

Ute wickiup

These terms are possible Native American sources of the current terms

• wiquoam literally ‘their house’ in Delaware (cf. neek ‘my house’, keek ‘thy house’, week ‘his house’)
• wikuwam in Eastern Wabenaki (Maliseet)
• wigwôm in Western Wabenaki (Abenaki language)
• wiigiwaam in the Anishinaabe language; syncoped as wiigwaam
• wiikiyaapi in Fox
• wickiup [(Menominee wikiop, Saki wekeab; cf. Cree mekewap Montagnais mitshiuap); perhaps a variant of wikiwam, wigwam]
• gowąh in Western Apache
• guughą or kuughą in Chiricahua

Wigwams of Northeast

Wigwams are most often seasonal structures although the term is applied to rounded and conical structures that are more permanent by Native American groups. Wigwams usually take longer to put up than tipis and their frames are usually not portable like a tipi.

A typical wigwam in the Northeast has a curved surface which can hold up against the worst weather. The male of the family was responsible for the framing of the wigwam. Young green tree saplings, of just about any type of wood, about ten to fifteen feet long were cut down. These tree saplings were then bent by stretching the wood. While these saplings were being bent, a circle was drawn into the ground. The diameter of the circle varied from ten to sixteen feet. The bent saplings were then placed over the drawn circle, using the tallest saplings in the middle and the shorter ones on the outside. The saplings formed arches all in one direction on the circle. The next set of saplings was used to wrap around the wigwam to give the shelter support. When the two sets of saplings were finally tied together, the sides and roof were placed on it. The sides of the wigwam were usually bark stripped from trees.

Mary Rowlandson uses the term Wigwam in reference to the dwelling places of the Native Americans that she stayed with while in their captivity during King Philip’s War in 1675. The term wigwam has remained in English usage as a synonym for any “Indian house”.

Wickiups of Southwest and West

The regional non-Native American term for a single room dome like dwellings is wickiup. A distinction is usually made between them and a tipi, a hogan or a kiva. There is a great deal of variation in size, shape and materials.

Below is a description of Chiricahua wickiups recorded by anthropologist Morris Opler:

frame of Apache wickiup

“The home in which the family lives is made by the women and is ordinarily a circular, dome-shaped brush dwelling, with the floor at ground level. It is seven feet high at the center and approximately eight feet in diameter. To build it, long fresh poles of oak or willow are driven into the ground or placed in holes made with a digging stick. These poles, which form the framework, are arranged at one-foot intervals and are bound together at the top with yucca-leaf strands. Over them a thatching of bundles of big bluestem grass or bear grass is tied, shingle style, with yucca strings. A smoke hole opens above a central fireplace. A hide, suspended at the entrance, is fixed on a cross-beam so that it may be swung forward or backward. The doorway may face in any direction. For waterproofing, pieces of hide are thrown over the outer hatching, and in rainy weather, if a fire is not needed, even the smoke hole is covered. In warm, dry weather much of the outer roofing is stripped off. It takes approximately three days to erect a sturdy dwelling of this type. These houses are ‘warm and comfortable, even though there is a big snow.’ The interior is lined with brush and grass beds over which robes are spread….”   (Opler: 22-23)

“The woman not only makes the furnishings of the home but is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the dwelling itself and for the arrangement of everything in it. She provides the grass and brush beds and replaces them when they become too old and dry…. However, formerly ‘they had no permanent homes, so they didn’t bother with cleaning.’ The dome-shaped dwelling or wickiup, the usual home type for all the Chiricahua bands, has already been described…. Said a Central Chiricahua informant:

Chiricahua medicine man in wickiup with family

Both the tepee and the oval-shaped house were used when I was a boy. The oval hut was covered with hide and was the best house. The more well-to-do had this kind. The tepee type was just made of brush. It had a place for a fire in the center. It was just thrown together. Both types were common even before my time….

“A house form that departs from the more common dome-shaped variety is recorded for the Southern Chiricahua as well:

…When we settled down, we used the wickiup; when we were moving around a great deal, we used this other kind…”   (Opler: 385-386)

frame of Crow wickiup in snow

*Information supplied by wikipedia*

History

A tipi of the Nez Perce tribe.

The Sibley tent was invented by Henry Hopkins Sibley, who had studied the tipi during the expeditions he carried out in the Old West. A patent was granted for his tent design on April 22, 1856 (no. 14,740). In accordance in an agreement with the Department of War in 1858, he would have received five dollars for every tent they made. However, Sibley joined the Confederate States Army after the outbreak of the American Civil War and did not receive the royalty. The Federal Army had used almost 44,000 Sibley tents during the war. After Sibley’s death, his relatives attempted unsuccessfully to collect the royalties.

*Information supplied by wikipedia, the free encyclopedia*

For those who practice the Navajo religion the hogan is considered sacred. The religious song “The Blessingway” describes the first hogan as being built by Coyote with help from beavers to be a house for First Man, First Woman, and Talking God. The Beaver People gave Coyote logs and instructions on how to build the first hogan, now known as a “forked stick” or “male” hogan. This hogan resembles a pyramid with five triangular faces. Earth may fill the spaces between the framework logs, hiding the five faceted shape and creating thick, winter-protective walls. The “forked stick” or “male” Hogan contains a vestibule in the front and was used only for sacred or private ceremonies.

Navajo hogan

The “circular” or “female” Hogan (tsé bee hooghan), the family home for the Diné people, is much larger and does not contain a vestibule. In it, the children play, the women cook, weave, talk, and entertain and men tell jokes and stories. Navajos made their hogans in this fashion until the 1900s, when they started to make them in hexagonal and octagonal shapes. The change in shape may have been due to the arrival of the railroad. A supply of wooden cross-ties, which could be laid horizontally to form walls of a larger, taller home, allowed the retention of the “female” hogan shape but with more interior room.

Many cultural taboos are associated with the hogan and its use. Should a death occur in the structure, the body is either buried in the hogan with the entry sealed to warn others away, or the deceased is extracted through a hole knocked in the north side of the structure and it is abandoned and often burned. A hogan may also become taboo for further use if lightning strikes near the structure or a bear rubs against it. Wood from such structures is never reused for any other purpose by a Navajo.

Navajo hogan – inside

Today, while some older hogans are still used as dwellings and others are maintained for ceremonial purposes, new hogans are rarely intended as family dwellings.

*Information supplied by wikipedia, the free encyclopedia*