Although igloos are not a really part of the Native life that we have discussed in class, they are a traditional form of temporary housing for the Inuit people of northern Canada.
Also, igloos seem to be the main identifier of northern Inuit people by others.
Igloo or iglu, is a shelter made of packed snow. There are various different configurations of these structures but common features include a dome shape as well as a tunnel leading from the entrance to the interior.
The snow that forms the shelter has exceptional insulation abilities, this is due to the air pockets trapped within the packed snow. Also, when the interior is lined with animal hide and accompanied with a seal oil stove or other heat source, the temperature within the structure is warm enough to prevent freezing to death!
These shelters can be either temporary shelters for hunting expeditions or more advanced structures for a more long term residence.
Here are some examples:
An illustration of the construction method
The igloos of a hunting party built on the sea ice
Engraving from the late 1500s of a Inuit camp on Baffin Island, Canada
The interior, note the many furs/hides
I had no idea that the igloo had a spiral pattern to it when it is built. Their way of life is probably the most demanding of all native people in north america
ReplyDeletean interesting fact: before contact with Europeans, Natives had no metal tools to cut the snow blocks and shape them. Instead they made daggers of ice...just as effective and readily available
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