Longhouses Of The Indigenous Peoples Of North America
Longhouses were built by native peoples in various parts of North America, sometimes reaching over 100 m (330 ft) but generally around 5 to 7 m (16 to 23 ft) wide. The dominant theory is that walls were made of sharpened and fire-hardened poles (up to 1,000 saplings for a 50 m (160 ft) house) driven into the ground and the roof consisted of leaves and grass. Strips of bark were then woven horizontally through the lines of poles to form more or less weatherproof walls, with doors usually both ends of the house covered with an animal hide to keep warm, although doors also were built into sides of especially long longhouses. Longhouses featured fireplaces that kept them warm. On top of the longhouses they made holes to keep the smoke out so they didn't lose oxygen. This can be a problem when it rains or snows.
Read more about Longhouses Of The Indigenous Peoples Of North America: Iroquois and The Other East Coast Longhouses, Northwest Coast Longhouses, Bibliography
Famous quotes containing the words indigenous, peoples, north and/or america:
“What is a country without rabbits and partridges? They are among the most simple and indigenous animal products; ancient and venerable families known to antiquity as to modern times; of the very hue and substance of Nature, nearest allied to leaves and to the ground,—and to one another; it is either winged or it is legged. It is hardly as if you had seen a wild creature when a rabbit or a partridge bursts away, only a natural one, as much to be expected as rustling leaves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“I knew that the wall was the main thing in Quebec, and had cost a great deal of money.... In fact, these are the only remarkable walls we have in North America, though we have a good deal of Virginia fence, it is true.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“... the Department of Justice is committed to asking one central question of everything we do: What is the right thing to do? Now that can produce debate, and I want it to be spirited debate. I want the lawyers of America to be able to call me and tell me: Janet, have you lost your mind?”
—Janet Wood Reno (b. 1938)