ShelterBC First Nations Studies 12

Chapter 2Ms. Inden

Shelter Vocabulary

•architecture – designing and constructing buildings or other physical structures

•architect – someone who designs and builds buildings

•portable – something that is easy to move from one place to another is portable

…more vocabulary

•conical – shaped like a cone

•circular – shaped like a circle

•oblong – Not quite round

• insulation – what keeps a building or structure warm

..and a few more words

•subterranean – undergr0und•semi-subterranean – partly

under ground

•planks – trees split into lumber

•beams – thick planks used to hold up a structure

First Nations Architecture

• First Nations architects created (and still create) a wide variety of homes

• The buildings they created were perfect for the environment in which they lived

• Buildings often contained spiritual elements that showed the beliefs of the people who lived there

Housing on the Interior Plateau

• The climate on the Interior Plateau is what we call ‘continental’

• That means quite cold winters, warm summers, not a great deal of rain or snow

BC Interior Pit House• “Pit House Cross

SectionArchaeologist James Teit drew this plan and cross section of a pit house built by the Thompson Indians in the Nicola Valley during the 1890s. Note the successive layers of logs and sod used to cover the roof (courtesy American Museum of Natural History).”

• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC894800

Pit Dwelling

• In the winter, people would stay put in the river valleys. Shelter was dug into the ground on the eastern side of the mountain to avoid the wind that usually blows from the west

• Earth and snow would insulate the home against the cold

The Pit Dwelling style of building may have come from northeastern Asia and is considered North America’s oldest house type - perhaps 3500 years in use as a style of architecture.

Easy to heat!• People would enter

through the smoke hole and climb down a ladder made from a log

• Only a small fire would be needed to keep the shelter warm

• Pits were also dug to store food for the winter

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC894800

Nlaka'pamux First Nation (Thompson)

• Their pit dwellings were 7.5-12 metres across

• Before contact, communities would have as many as 100 homes

• 15-30 people would live in each one

Spiritual elements• The ladder in the centre was sometimes

carved with the spirit animal of the head of the household

• The Nlaka'pamux of the Nicola Valley divided their pit dwelling into four sections, which reflected their belief that the world, and the afterworld, were both in the shape of a large round dwelling with four sections

• Pit dwellings throughout the Interior Plateau came in a variety of shapes – sometimes circular, sometimes oblong or square

Summer homes

• Summer shelter was often different than winter shelter

• In the summer, shelter was light and portable, as First Nations moved about to fish, pick berries and hunt.

• Conical homes, lean-tos and so forth would be covered by woven mats or hides

Housing on the Coast

• The climate on the Coast is called “Marine” or, not surprisingly, “Coastal”

• That means pretty warm in the winter, and not too hot in the summer, but lots of RAIN!

Coastal Architecture• The most important

resource on the West Coast was the cedar, which was used for everything from clothing to houses

• First Nations on the coast lived in permanent villages of longhouses during the winter

Haida Longhouse

• Six beams coming out of the roof

• Planks are vertical

Haina (Sunshine Town) VillageHouse Where People Always Want To

Go - 1888http://wickedsunshine.com/Projects/PotlatchLonghouse/PotlatchLonghouse-

HistoricalReference.html

Haida

• Spiritual belief that the house was a gift given to the people after he stole it from Raven

• Follow this link to read more about spiritual beliefs of the Haida with regard to their homes:

• http://wickedsunshine.com/Projects/PotlatchLonghouse/PotlatchLonghouse-HistoricalReference.html

• Coast Salish houses had horizontal planks and were sometimes really LONG – 450 METRES

Nuxalk longhouse

Nuxalk HouseIn Kimsquit village on the central BC coast c. 1881. The gabled roof is hidden behind the tripartite facade. Photo by Edward Dossetter (BC Archives and Record Centre, cat no. 33585). http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC894801

Cedar planks

• Planks were often taken off winter homes and transported by canoe to the summer homes to be used there

Top to bottom

• Coastal society was very hierarchical, with nobility at the top and slaves at the bottom.

• The most important people had the best houses, with roofs made of planks weighted down with rocks

• Poorer people had roofs of cedar bark that had to be replaced often

Central to Coastal life

• In the winter, the longhouses were places of great drama, ceremony and spiritual expressions such as the potlatch

• Homes were decorated with family crests and named

A virtual tour

• Follow the link to the Virtual Museum to see inside a longhouse

• http://www.sfu.museum/time/

Housing in the Northeast Plains

• The First Nations located here are connected more to life on the prairies

• Moving about to follow wild game meant homes were light and portable

Tipis of the Northeast

• This was the main type of housing in that region and reflected the need to move often

• Tipis generally faced east, and the place of honour was across from the door

• Poles were put up and covered with caribou or moose hide

• A smoke hole in the centre was used for ventilation

• Follow the link below to see some of the architecture from the Arctic

• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC894802