“Indians” of the Pacific coast of Canada/ PART 2

 
‘How is it like to live in a tipi?’ This would a European probably ask you if you tell them that you are Native Canadian because the get wrong information through movies. Many people believe that all Native “Indians” lived or still live in tipis, but that is of course not true. Indeed there were tribes who lived in this sort of tent. These were the nomads of the prairies who had to move with the climate and with the animals they hunted. The tribal nations of the Pacific Coast lived in massive wood houses, also called longhouses. They were about 100 feet (31m) long and were mainly made of cedar wood, which grows in Western Canada. It was hard work for the Natives to build the houses by hand and it took a long time to finish one in comparison to today. However, when it was time to build one, all men of the tribe helped together in order to finish it faster.

Many different kinds of dwellings are known, depending on the environment of the people and the climate. The indigenous people on the West Coast of Canada lived in such cedar houses because they were a resident population and not nomads. Up to seven families lived in one of these longhouses. An average family consisted of 6 approximately 12 people and each of them had their own area within the longhouse. "A man's home is his castle." is definitely not the motto of Natives. Living together as a community means to share and respect each other. (cf. Indians.org 2013)

Interior of Longhouses

 

In the middle of the house was the fireplace, where the women cooked. The occupants slept on mats next to the fire, which helped them to keep warm in winter. In summer they slept on a kind of a shelf along the walls of the longhouse, where it was cooler. They put baskets, animal hides and plants on the top and they also stored some food like corn inside. In addition to that, dry wood could be found, which was used to make fire. The people living in the longhouse never used green wood because it produces too much smoke when it is burnt. Furthermore, there were no shelves, to put their belongings into and because of that every person dug a hole into the ground, put his or her stuff inside and covered it with dirt. Tree stumps and benches were used to sit on.
(cf. berverleepettit.org 2014)