Sunday 1 July 2012

Pit Houses of the Aboriginal Canadians

The aboriginal people of Canada specifically in the plateau region were semi-nomadic due to climatic conditions. Therefore their shelters were easy to construct and dismantle. They either lived in a pit house in winters or a Tipi or a Tule-mat lodge in summers.

Interior of a Pit House 

A Pit house could be 15 meters wide and is built below the ground in a 1-2 meter deep pit and could accommodate as many as 30 people. Well insulated by the sod and earth roof a pit house required only a small fire to warm its interiors. Most pit houses were built so that people could enter and exit through the smoke hole via the notched pole ladder (see the pole ladder in the photo above). Some groups used a side tunnel as a women's entrance and as an emergency exit.

The summer shelter was either in a Tipi or a Tule-mat lodge both of which were made above ground.

1 comment:

manoharmseo said...

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