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The houses of the Eskimo differ according to the season. All the tribes from Smith Sound to Labrador and from Davis Strait to Victoria Land are in the habit of building snow houses in winter. Though they erect another more durable kind of winter house, these are more frequently in use. The principles of construction are the same everywhere. A level place is selected for erecting the snow house. To be suitable for cutting into blocks the snowbank must have been formed by a single storm, for blocks which are cut from drifts composed of several layers break when cut. It must be very fine grained, but not so hard that it cannot be readily cut with the saw or the snow knife. The whole building is constructed of blocks of about three feet or four feet in length, two feet in height, and from six inches to eight inches in thickness. They are cut with snow knives or dovetail saws, which for this reason are much in demand. The old snow knife (sulung) was made of ivory and had a slight curve (Fig. 490). The blocks are cut either vertically or horizontally, the former way being more convenient if the snowdrift is deep. Two parallel cuts of the breadth and the depth of the blocks are made through the drift, and after having removed a small block the Eskimo go on cutting or sawing parallel to the surface. A cross cut is then made and the block is loosened with the point of the foot and lifted out of the bank. Vertical blocks are more easily detached from the snowdrift than horizontal ones.

Fig. 490. Various styles of snow knife. (National Museum, Washington. a, 10386; b, 10385.)

Two men unite in building a house, the one cutting the blocks, the other building. At first a row of blocks is put up in a circle, the single pieces being slanted so as to fit closely together. Then the first block is cut down to the ground and the top of the row is slanted so as to form one thread of a spiral line. The builder places the first block of the second row with its narrow side upon the first block and pushes it with his left hand to the right so that it touches the last block of the first row. Thus the snow block, which is inclined a little inward, has a support on two sides. The vertical joint is slanted with the snow knife and tightly pressed together, the new block resting on the oblique side of the former. In building on in this way the blocks receive the shape of almost regular trapezoids. Every block is inclined a little more inward than the previous one, and as the angle to the vertical becomes greater the blocks are only kept in their places by the neighboring ones. In order to give them a good support the edges are the more slanted as their angle is greater.

This method of building is very ingenious, as it affords the possibility of building a vault without a scaffold. If the blocks were placed in parallel rows, the first block of a new row would have no support, while by this method each reclines on the previous one. When the house has reached a considerable height the man who cuts the blocks outside must place them upon the last row. The builder supports them with his head and pushes them to their proper places. The key block and those which are next to it are either cut inside or pushed into the house through a small door cut for the purpose. The key block is generally shaped irregularly, as it is fitted into the hole which remains; usually the last two blocks are triangular. When the vault is finished the joints between the blocks are closed up by cutting down the edges and pressing the scraps into the joints. Larger openings are closed with snow blocks and filled up with loose snow pressed into the fissures. Thus the whole building becomes a tight vault, without any holes through which the warm air inside may escape. Such a snow house, about five feet high and seven feet in diameter, is used as a camp in winter journeys. It takes about two hours for two skilled men to build and finish it. For winter quarters the vaults are built from ten to twelve feet high and twelve to fifteen feet in diameter. In order to reach this height the builder makes a bench on which he steps while finishing the upper part of the building.

The plan of a snow house of the Davis Strait tribes is a little different from that of the Hudson Bay and the Iglulik tribes.

I shall first describe the former according to my own observations (Figs. 491 and 492).

Fig. 491. Ground plan of snow house of Davis Strait tribes.

The entrance to the main building is formed by two, or less frequently by three, small vaults. The first one (uadling) is a small dome about six feet in height, with a door two and a half feet in height; the second one is a long passage of equal height formed by an elliptical vault (igdluling). Its roof is generally arched, but sometimes the top is cut off evenly and covered with slabs of snow. Both vaults together form the entrance and are called toqsung. A door about three feet high leads into the main room, the floor of which is about nine inches above that of the former. Two very small vaults are always attached to the whole building (Fig. 491). One is situated alongside of the uadling and the igdluling, and serves as a storeroom for clothing and harness (sirdloang). It is not connected with the interior of the hut, but one of the blocks of the vault can be taken out and is made to serve as a lid. On the left side of the entrance of the main building is another small vault (igdluarn), which is accessible from the main building. It serves for keeping spare meat and blubber. Frequently there is a second igdluarn on the opposite side, and sometimes even a third one in the igdluling. Another appendix of the main building is frequently used, the audlitiving (Fig. 491 and Fig. 492 c). It is a vault similar to the sirdloang and is attached to the back of the main room. It serves for storing up meat for future use.

Directly over the entrance a window is cut through the wall, either square or more frequently forming an arch, which is generally covered with the intestines of ground seals, neatly sewed together, the seams standing vertically (Fig. 493). In the center there is a hole (qingang) through which one can look out. In some instances a piece of fresh water ice is inserted in the hole. According to Ross it is always used by the Netchillirmiut (II, p. 250), who make the slab by letting water freeze in a sealskin.

Fig. 492. Snow house of Davis Strait, sections.

In the rear half and on both sides of the door a bank of snow two and a half feet high is raised and cut off straight, a passage trench five feet wide and six feet long remaining. The rear half forms the bed, the adjoining parts of the side benches are the place for the lamps, while on both sides of the entrance meat and refuse are heaped up. Frequently the snowbank on which the hut is built is deep enough so that the bed needs very little raising, and the passage is cut into the bank. As this is much more convenient in building, the huts are generally erected on a sloping face, the entrance lying on the lower part, which faces the beach.

Fig. 493. Section and interior of snow house.

Before the bed is arranged and the hut furnished the vault is lined with skins, frequently with the cover of the summer hut. The lining (ilupiqang) is fastened to the roof by small ropes (nirtsun), which are fastened by a toggle on the outside of the wall (Fig. 493). In the lower part of the building the lining lies close to the wall; in the upper part it forms a flat roof about two or three feet below the top of the vault. The effect of this arrangement is to prevent the warm air inside from melting the snow roof, as above the skins there is always a layer of colder air. Close to the top of the building a small hole (qangirn) is cut through the wall for ventilation. The lamps require a good draught, which is secured by this hole. The cold air enters through the door, slowly filling the passage, and after being warmed rises to the lamps and escapes through the skin cover and the hole. The moisture of the air forms long ice needles on the inside of the roof. Sometimes they fall down upon the skins, and must be immediately removed by shaking it until they glide down at the sides, else they melt and wet the room thoroughly. Frequently a high ice funnel forms around the hole from the freezing moisture of the escaping air.

The southern and western tribes rarely line the snow house. The continuous dropping from the roof, however, causes great inconvenience, and, besides, the temperature cannot be raised higher than two or three degrees centigrade above the freezing point, while in the lined houses it is frequently from ten to twenty degrees centigrade, so that the latter are much more comfortable. To avoid the dropping the natives apply a cold piece of snow to the roof before the drop falls down, which at once freezes to it, the roof acquiring by this repeated process a stalactitic appearance. The eastern tribes use the lining in their permanent houses without any exception. The western and southern tribes, who leave the walls bare, heap a thick layer of loose snow over the whole building, almost covering it up, the window and the ventilating hole alone excepted. For this purpose snow shovels are used.

The edge of the bed is formed by a long pole. The surface of the snowbank which forms the foundation for the bed is covered with pieces of wood, oars, paddles, tent poles, &c. These are covered with a thick layer of shrubs, particularly Andromeda tetragona. Over these numerous heavy deerskins are spread, and thus a very comfortable bed is made.

According to Parry the arrangement in Iglulik is as follows (II, p. 501):

The beds are arranged by first covering the snow with a quantity of small stones, over which are laid their paddles, tent poles, and some blades of whalebone; above these they place a number of little pieces of network made of thin slips of whalebone, and lastly a quantity of twigs of birch and of the Andromeda tetragona. ***The birch, they say, had been procured from the southward by way of Nuvuk. ***There deerskins, which are very numerous, can now be spread without risk of their touching the snow.

At night, when the Eskimo go to bed, they put their clothing, their boots excepted, on the edge of the platform under the deerskins, thus forming a pillow, and lie down with the head toward the entrance. The blankets (qipiq) for their beds are made of heavy deerskins, which are sewed together, one blanket serving for a whole family. The edge of the blanket is trimmed with leather straps.

On the side benches in front of the bed is the fireplace, which consists of a stone lamp and a framework from which the pots are suspended (see Fig. 493). The lamp (qudlirn), which is made of soapstone, is a shallow vessel in the shape of a small segment of a circle. Sometimes a small space is divided off at the back for gathering in the scraps of blubber. The wick consists of hair of Eryophorum or of dried moss rubbed down with a little blubber so as to be inflammable. It is always carried by the women in a small bag. The whole vessel is filled with blubber as high as the wick, which is spread along the straight side of the vessel. It requires constant attention to keep the desired length burning without smoking, the length kindled being in accordance with the heat or light required. The trimming of the wick is done with a bit of bone, asbestus, or wood, with which the burning moss is spread along the edge of the lamp and extinguished or pressed down if the fire is not wanted or if it smokes. At the same time this stick serves to light other lamps (or pipes), the burnt point being put into the blubber and then kindled. Sometimes a long, narrow vessel stands below the lamp, in which the oil that drops from the edge is collected.

In winter the blubber before being used is frozen, after which it is thoroughly beaten. This bursts the vesicles of fat and the oil comes out as soon as it is melted. The pieces of blubber are either put into the lamp or placed over a piece of bone or wood, which hangs from the framework a little behind the wick. In summer the oil must be chewed out. It is a disgusting sight to see the women and children sitting around a large vessel all chewing blubber and spitting the oil into it.

Fig. 494. Ukusik or soapstone kettle.

The frame of the fireplace consists of four poles stuck in the snow in a square around the lamp and four crossbars connecting the poles at the top. From those which run from the front to the back the kettle (ukusik) is suspended by two pairs of strings or thongs. It is made of soapstone and has a hole in each corner for the string. The kettle which is in use among the eastern tribes has a narrow rim and a wide bottom (Fig. 494), while that of the western ones is just the opposite. Parry, however, found one of this description in River Clyde (I, p. 286). When not in use it is shoved back by means of the strings. Since whalers began to visit the country a great number of tin pots have been introduced, which are much more serviceable, the process of cooking being quickened.

On the top of the frame there is always a wood or bone hoop with a net of thongs stretched across it (inetang). It serves to dry clothing, particularly boots, stockings, and mittens, over the fire. In the passage near the entrance to the hut there is frequently a small lamp (adlirn), which is very effective for warming the cold air entering through the door, and in the remotest corner in the back of the hut there is sometimes another (kidlulirn). When all the lamps are lighted the house becomes warm and comfortable.

Two small holes are frequently cut in the snowbank which forms the ledge, at about the middle of its height (see Fig. 492 a). They are closed with small snow blocks, each of which has a groove for a handle, and serve to store away anything that must be kept dry. At night the entrance of the inner room is closed with a large snow block, which stands in the passage during the day.

Fig. 495. Plan of double snow house.

These huts are always occupied by two families, each woman having her own lamp and sitting on the ledge in front of it, the one on the right side, the other on the left side of the house. If more families join in building a common snow house, they make two main rooms with one entrance. The plan of such a building is seen in Fig. 495.

Fig. 496. Plan of Iglulik house. (From Parry II, p. 500.)

Fig. 497. Plan of Hudson Bay house. (From Hall II, p. 128.)

The plans of the Iglulik and Hudson Bay houses are different from the one described here. The difference will best be seen by comparing the plans represented in Fig. 496 and Fig. 497, which have been reprinted from Hall and Parry, respectively, with the former ones. Among the eastern tribes I have never seen the beds on the side of the passage, but always at the rear of the house.

Besides these snow houses a more solid building is in use, called qarmang. On the islands of the American Archipelago and in the neighboring parts of the mainland numerous old stone foundations are found, which prove that all these islands were once inhabited by the Eskimo. It has often been said that the central tribes have forgotten the art of building stone houses and always live in snow huts. At the present time they do not build houses, but cover the walls of an old hut with a new roof whenever they take possession of it. There is no need of any new buildings, as the Eskimo always locate in the old settlements and the old buildings are quite sufficient to satisfy all their wants.

Fig. 498. Plan and sections of qarmang or stone house.

Those in good condition have a long stone entrance (ka´teng) (Fig. 498), sometimes from fifteen to twenty feet long. This is made by cutting an excavation into the slope of a hill. Its walls are covered with large slabs of stone about two and a half feet high and three feet wide, the space between the stone and the sides of the excavation being afterwards filled up with earth. The floor of the passage slopes upward toward the hut. The last four feet of the entrance are covered with a very large slab and are a little higher than the other parts of the roof of the passageway. The slab is at the same height as the benches of the dwelling room, which is also dug out, the walls being formed of stones and whale ribs. The plan of the interior is the same as that of the snow house, the bed being in the rear end of the room and the lamps on both sides of the entrance. The floor of the hut is about eight inches higher than that of the passage. The roof and the window, however, differ from those of the snow house. In the front part of the hut the rib of a whale is put up, forming an arch. A great number of poles are lashed to it and run toward the back of the house, where they rest on the top of the wall, forming, as it were, the rafters. The whole curve formed by the rib is covered with a window of seal intestines, while the poles are covered with sealskins, which are fastened in front to the whale rib. At the other end they are either fastened to the ribs in the wall or, more frequently, are steadied by stones. The roof is covered with a thick layer of Andromeda, and another skin, which is fastened in the same way, is spread over both covers. This kind of hut is very warm, light, and comfortable. The stone banks forming the bed are covered as already described.

If three families occupy one house the whale’s rib which forms the window is placed a few feet farther forward than in the previous case, at the end of the large slab which forms the roof of the last part of the passage.

Fig. 499. Plan of large qarmang or stone house for three families.

By means of poles and bones a small side room is built (qareang), the ceiling of which is sewed to that of the main room (Fig. 499). The large slab which is in front of the window (at the end of the passage) is utilized as a storeroom for both families living on that side of the house, a place being left open only in the middle, where the spy hole is. In some instances this side room is inclosed in the stone walls of the hut.

Fig. 500. Plan of stone house in Anarnitung, Cumberland Sound. (From a drawing by L. Kumlien.)

Fig. 500 and Fig. 501 present sketches of plans of some of these houses. From such sketches it appears that several houses might have a common entrance.

Fig. 501. Plan of group of stone houses in Pangnirtung, Cumberland Sound.

In Anarnitung I observed no passage at all for the houses, the walls being entirely above the ground and piled up with bowlders and sod. They are, however, covered in the same way as the others and the entrance is made of snow.

Fig. 502. Plan and sections of qarmang or house made of whale ribs.

A winter house built on the same plan is represented in Fig. 502. The wall is made entirely of whale ribs, placed so that their ends cross one another. The poles are tied over the top of the ribs and the whole frame is covered with the double roof described above. A few narrow snow vaults form the entrance. The front rib forms the door, and thus the hut becomes quite dark. Huts of this kind are also called qarmang or qarmaujang, i.e., similar to a qarmang.

Fig. 503. Storehouse in Ukiadliving. (From a sketch by the author.)

In Ukiadliving I found, along with a great number of fine qarmat, some very remarkable storehouses, such as are represented in Fig. 503. Structures of this kind (ikan´) consist of heavy granite pillars, on the top of which flat slabs are piled to a height of from nine to ten feet. In winter, blubber and meat are put away upon these pillars, which are sufficiently high to keep them from the dogs. Sometimes two pillars, about ten feet apart, are found near the huts. In winter the kayak is placed upon them in order to prevent it from being covered by snowdrifts or from being torn and destroyed by the dogs. In snow villages these pillars are made of snow.

The purpose of the long, kayak-like building figured by Kumlien (see Fig. 500) is unknown to me. I found a similar one, consisting of two rows of stones, scarcely one foot high but twenty feet long, in Pangnirtung, Cumberland Sound, but nobody could explain its use.

In the spring, when the rays of the sun become warmer, the roofs of the snow houses fall down. At this season the natives build only the lower half of a snow vault, which is covered with skins.

Fig. 504. Plan and sections of tupiq or tent of Cumberland Sound.

Still later they live in their tents (tupiq) (Fig. 504). The framework consists of poles, which are frequently made of many pieces of wood ingeniously lashed together. The plan (Fig. 504 a) is the same as that of the winter houses. At the edge of the bed and at the entrance two pairs of converging poles are erected. A little below the crossing points two cross strips are firmly attached, forming the ridge. Behind the poles, at the edge of the bed, six or eight others are arranged in a semicircle resting on the ground and on the crossing point of those poles. The frame is covered with a large skin roof fitting tightly. The back part, covering the bed, is made of sealskins; the fore part, between the two pairs of poles, of the thin membrane which is split from the skins (see p. 519), and admits the light. The door is formed by the front part of the cover, the left side (in entering) ending in the middle of the entrance, the right one overlapping it, so as to prevent the wind from blowing into the hut. The cover is steadied with heavy stones (Fig. 504 c). In Cumberland Sound and the more southern parts of Baffin Land the back of the hut is inclined at an angle of 45°; in Davis Strait it is as steep as 60°, or even more. In the summer tent the bed and the side platforms are not raised, but only separated from the passage by means of poles.

Fig. 505. Plan and sections of tupiq or tent of Pond Bay.

Farther north and west, in Pond Bay, Admiralty Inlet, and Iglulik, where wood is scarce, the Eskimo have a different plan of construction (Fig. 505). A strong pole is set up vertically at the end of the passage, a small cross piece being lashed to its top. The entrance is formed by an oblique pole, the end of which lies in the ridge of the roof. The latter is formed by a stout thong which runs over the top of both poles and is fastened to heavy stones on both sides. If wood is wanting, then poles are made from the penis bones of the walrus. Parry found one of these tents at River Clyde, on his first expedition, and describes it as follows (I, p. 283):

The tents which compose their summer habitations, are principally supported by a long pole of whalebone, 14 feet high, standing perpendicularly, with 4 or 5 feet of it projecting above the skins which form the roof and sides. The length of the tent is 17, and its breadth from 7 to 9 feet, the narrowest part being next the door, and widening towards the inner part, where the bed, composed of a quantity of the small shrubby plant, the Andromeda tetragona, occupies about one-third of the whole apartment. The pole of the tent is fixed where the bed commences, and the latter is kept separate by some pieces of bone laid across the tent from side to side. The door which faces the southwest, is also formed of two pieces of bone, with the upper ends fastened together, and the skins are made to overlap in that part of the tent, which is much lower than the inner end. The covering is fastened to the ground by curved pieces of bone, being generally parts of the whale.

This kind of tent differs from the one described by me only in the construction of its door.

I could not find a description of the tent of the Hudson Bay Eskimo. There is only one illustration in Klutschak (p. 137) and one in Ross (II, p. 581) representing tents of the Netchillirmiut. In the former there are a few conical tents, such as are used by the eastern tribes before a sufficient number of skins for a large tent can be procured. The same kind is represented in Ross’s book. The other tent drawn by Klutschak is similar to the Iglulik one, but the arrangement of the poles in the back part is invisible. The entrance is formed by two converging poles and a rope runs over the ridge and is tied to a rock.

The small tents which are used in the spring are made of a few converging poles forming a cone. They are covered with a skin roof.

Fig. 506. Plan and sections of double winter tent, Cumberland Sound.

Some families, instead of building snow houses or stone houses in winter, cover the summer tent with shrubs and spread over them a second skin cover. In front of the tent snow vaults are built to protect the interior from the cold. In some instances several families join their tents (Fig. 506). In the front part where the tents adjoin each other the covers are taken away and replaced by a whale rib which affords a passage from one room to the other.

The plans of the feasting houses, will be found in another place (p. 600).