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Woodland Cree

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The Sakāwithiniwak or Woodland Cree , are a Cree people, calling themselves Nîhithaw in their own dialect of the language. They are the largest indigenous group in northern Alberta and are an Algonquian people. Prior to the 18th century, their territory extended west of Hudson Bay , as far north as Churchill . Although in western Northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba , by the 18th century, they acted as middlemen in trade with western tribes. After acquiring guns through trade, they greatly expanded their territory and drove other tribes further west and north.

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38-526: The Rocky Cree or Asinikaw Īthiniwak are often grouped alongside the Woodland Cree, though many see them as a distinct group of Cree. The Rocky Cree once spoke a distinct "r" dialect of Cree before assimilating into the Woodland "th" dialect. Their lodges varied in materials depending upon where they lived. In the southern areas they lived in birch-bark wigwams , and further north, where birch

76-425: A Central Chiricahua informant: Both the teepee and the oval-shaped house were used when I was a boy. The oval hut was covered with hide and was the best house. The more well-to-do had this kind. The teepee type was just made of brush. It had a place for a fire in the center. It was just thrown together. Both types were common even before my time ... A house form that departed from the more common dome-shaped variety

114-405: A fire is not needed, even the smoke hole is covered. In warm, dry weather much of the outer roofing is stripped off. It takes approximately three days to erect a sturdy dwelling of this type. These houses are "warm and comfortable even though there is a big snow". The interior is lined with brush and grass beds over which robes are spread.... The woman not only makes the furnishings of the home but

152-514: A frame of arched poles, most often wooden, which are covered with some sort of bark roofing material. Details of construction vary with the culture and local availability of materials. Some of the roofing materials used include grass, brush, bark, rushes, mats, reeds, hides or cloth. Wigwams are most often seasonal structures, although the term is applied to rounded and conical structures that are more permanent. Wigwams usually take longer to put up than tipis . Their frames are usually not portable like

190-556: A meeting of village leaders in a "Kind of State-House of about 90 Feet [27 m] long, with a light Cover of Bark in which they hold their Councils." The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America also built a form of longhouse. Theirs were built with logs or split-log frame, and covered with split log planks, and sometimes an additional bark cover. Cedar is the preferred lumber. The wealthy built extraordinarily large longhouses. Old Man House , built by

228-436: A thatching of bundles of big bluestem grass or bear grass is tied, shingle style, with yucca strings. A smoke hole opens above a central fireplace allows smoke to escape when the firepit is used. A hide, suspended at the entrance, is fixed on a cross-beam so that it may be swung forward or backward. The doorway may face in any direction. For waterproofing, pieces of hide are thrown over the outer hatching, and in rainy weather, if

266-472: A tipi. A typical wigwam in the Northeast has a curved surface which can hold up against the worst weather. Young green tree saplings of just about any type of wood, 10 to 15 feet (3.0 to 4.6 m) long, were cut down and bent. While the saplings were being bent, a circle was drawn on the ground. The diameter of the circle varied from 10 to 16 feet (3.0 to 4.9 m). The bent saplings were then placed over

304-452: A typical longhouse was about 24.4 by 5.5 by 5.5 m (80 by 18 by 18 ft) and was meant to house up to twenty or more families, most of whom were matrilineally related. The people had a matrilineal kinship system, with property and inheritance passed through the maternal line. Children were born into the mother's clan. Protective palisades were built around the dwellings; these stood 4.3 to 4.9 m (14 to 16 ft) high, keeping

342-551: A whale. Benches and looms were inlaid with shell, and there were other indications of wealth. A single house had five separate living areas centered on cooking hearths; each had artifacts that revealed aspects of the former occupants' lives. More bows and arrows were found at one living area than any of the others, an indication that hunters lived there. Another had more fishing gear than other subsistence equipment, and at another, more harpoon equipment. Some had everyday work gear, and few elaborately ornamented things. The whaler's corner

380-806: Is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term wickiup is generally used to refer to these kinds of dwellings in the Southwestern United States and Western United States and Northwest Alberta , Canada, while wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the Northeastern United States as well as Ontario and Quebec in central Canada . The names can refer to many distinct types of Indigenous structures regardless of location or cultural group. The wigwam

418-522: Is not to be confused with the Native Plains tipi , which has a different construction, structure, and use. The domed, round shelter was used by numerous northeastern Indigenous tribes. The curved surfaces make it an ideal shelter for all kinds of conditions. Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands resided in either wigwams or longhouses . These structures are made with

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456-506: Is recorded for the Southern Chiricahua as well: When we settled down, we used the wickiup; when we were moving around a great deal, we used this other kind... The English word wigwam derives from Eastern Abenaki wigwôm , from Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi . Others have similar names for the structure: wickiup : Nearly identical constructions, called aqal , are used by today's nomadic Somali people as well as

494-489: Is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the dwelling itself and for the arrangement of everything in it. She provides the grass and brush beds and replaces them when they become too old and dry.... However, formerly "they had no permanent homes, so they didn't bother with cleaning." The dome-shaped dwelling or wickiup, the usual home type for all the Chiricahua bands, has already been described.... Said

532-677: The Afar people on the Horn of Africa . Pieces of old clothing or plastic sheet, woven mats (traditionally made of grass), or whatever material is available will be used to cover the aqal ' s roof. Similar domed tents are also used by the Bushmen and Nama people and other indigenous peoples in Southern Africa. The traditional semi-permanent dwelling of the Sámi people of Northern Europe

570-1069: The Algonquian peoples , such as the Lenni Lenape , who lived from western New England in Connecticut , along the lower Hudson River , and along the Delaware River and both sides of the Delaware Bay . The Pamunkey of the Algonquian-speaking Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia also built longhouses. Although the Shawnee were not known to build longhouses, colonist Christopher Gist describes how, during his visit to Lower Shawneetown in January 1751, he and Andrew Montour addressed

608-458: The Haida , Tsimshian , Tlingit Makah , Clatsop , Coast Salish and Multnomah . From beneath mudflows dating back to about 1700, archaeologists have recovered timbers and planks. In the part of one house where a woodworker lived, tools were found and also tools in all stages of manufacture. There were even wood chips. Where a whaler lived, there lay harpoons and also a wall screen carved with

646-651: The Suquamish , at what became the Port Madison Squamish Reservation , was 152 by 12–18 m (500 by 40–60 ft), c. 1850. Usually one doorway faces the shore. Each longhouse contains a number of booths along both sides of the central hallway, separated by wooden containers (akin to modern drawers). Each booth has its own individual hearth and fire. Usually an extended family occupied one longhouse, and cooperated in obtaining food, building canoes, and other daily tasks. The gambrel roof

684-492: The Longhouses"), who reside in the Northeastern United States as well as Central Canada ( Ontario and Quebec ), built and inhabited longhouses. These were sometimes more than 75 m (246 ft) in length but generally around 5 to 7 m (16 to 23 ft) wide. Scholars believe walls were made of sharpened and fire-hardened poles (up to 1,000 saplings for a 50 m (160 ft) house) driven close together into

722-622: The Sámi lavvu , other forms of chum are more permanent in nature. The more permanent forms of chum are very similar in construction to the timber or peat moss covered goahti dwellings of the Sámi, or the wigwams of the Native American cultures of the Eastern Woodlands and northern parts of North America. In Britain, similar structures known as bender tents , are built quickly and cheaply by New Age travellers , using poles from

760-419: The drawn circle, using the tallest saplings in the middle and the shorter ones on the outside. The saplings formed arches all in one direction on the circle. The next set of saplings were used to wrap around the wigwam to give the shelter support. When the two sets of saplings were finally tied together, the sides and roof were placed on it. The sides of the wigwam were usually bark stripped from trees. The male of

798-411: The family was responsible for the framing of the wigwam. Mary Rowlandson uses the term wigwam in reference to the dwelling places of Indigenous people that she stayed with while in their captivity during King Philip's War in 1675. The term wigwam has remained in common English usage as a synonym for any "Indian house"; however, this usage is dispreferred, as there are important differences between

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836-579: The first Aboriginal nations west of Hudson Bay to trade with European fur traders , as early as the 17th century. They became very closely associated with the fur trade and adapted their clothing and many aspects of their lifestyle and culture to European ways. Considered excellent hunters and trappers , they provided meat and pemmican to the fur trade posts and furs, either directly, or indirectly from trade with other tribes. Marriages or alliances between Cree women and fur traders became an essential link in fur trade negotiations. Because families were on

874-407: The floor at ground level. It is eight feet [2.4 m] high at the center and approximately seven feet [2.1 m] in diameter. To build it, long fresh poles of oak or willow are driven into the ground or placed in holes made with a digging stick. These poles, which form the framework, are arranged at one-foot [0.30 m] intervals and are bound together at the top with yucca-leaf strands. Over them

912-567: The ground. Strips of bark were woven horizontally through the lines of poles to form more or less weatherproof walls. Poles were set in the ground and braced by horizontal poles along the walls. The roof is made by bending a series of poles, resulting in an arc-shaped roof. This was covered with leaves and grasses. The frame is covered by bark that is sewn in place and layered as shingles, and reinforced by light swag. Doors were constructed at both ends and were covered with an animal hide to preserve interior warmth. Especially long longhouses had doors in

950-542: The longhouse village safe. Tribes or ethnic groups in northeast North America, south and east of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie , which had traditions of building longhouses include the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee): Seneca , Cayuga , Onondaga , Oneida and Mohawk . The Wyandot (also called Huron) and Erie people , both Iroquoian peoples , also built longhouses, as did

988-653: The move most of the time, women in childbirth often had their babies on the trail. The offspring of this alliance formed the basis of a new nation of people, the Métis , who adopted the lifestyle of their mother's people or of Europeans and received education in order to become clerks and traders for the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies . By 1800, the Cree were well established in Alberta , from Athabasca-Peace delta in

1026-622: The north, along the Peace River and south as far as the Saskatchewan River . Woodland Cree use legends to convey stories throughout time. Many legends are about aspects of the environment, such as "How the raven stole the sun" and "Deawitchita and the fire rock." It is said that those who tell the legends have the most ikanisha , which means wisdom in woodland cree. Wigwam A wigwam , wickiup , wetu ( Wampanoag ), or wiigiwaam ( Ojibwe , in syllabics : ᐧᐄᑭᐧᐋᒻ )

1064-435: The sidewalls as well. Longhouses featured fireplaces in the center for warmth. Holes were made above the hearth to let out smoke, but such smoke holes also let in rain and snow. Ventilation openings, later singly dubbed as a smoke pipe , were positioned at intervals, possibly totalling five to six along the roofing of the longhouse. Missionaries who visited these longhouses often wrote about their dark interiors. On average

1102-411: The spring and autumn the Woodland Cree hunted ducks and geese, and ptarmigan in the winter. Like many other tribes that depended upon snowshoe hares for food and clothing, they were affected by the periodic decline in populations, especially in the ninth and tenth years when hares almost altogether disappeared. Winter was a particularly difficult time for the Woodland Cree. The Woodland Cree were one of

1140-441: The temporary shelters were utilized for sleeping or as refuge in cases of inclement weather. When a dwelling reached the end of its practical life it was simply burned, and a replacement erected in its place in about a day's time. Below is a description of Chiricahua wickiups recorded by anthropologist Morris Opler: The home in which the family lives is made by the men and is ordinarily a circular, dome-shaped brush dwelling, with

1178-406: The walls. Cuts and puncture marks indicated they served as work platforms; mats rolled out onto them tie with elders' memories of such benches used as beds. Storage was concentrated behind the benches, along the walls and in corners between benches. These locations within the houses have yielded the most artifacts. The rafters must have also provided storage, but the mudflow carried away this part of

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1216-669: The wigwam and other shelters. During the American revolution the term wigwam was used by British soldiers to describe a wide variety of makeshift structures. Wickiups were used by different indigenous peoples of the Great Basin , Southwest, and Pacific Coast. They were single room, dome-shaped dwellings, with a great deal of variation in size, shape, and materials. The Acjachemen , an indigenous people of California , built cone-shaped huts made of willow branches covered with brush or mats made of tule leaves. Known as kiichas ,

1254-659: The woods (often hazel) and plastic tarpaulins, and are based on the designs of "Benders" by the Romanies who arrived in Britain in the 15th Century. Yarangas have a similar shape, but can have internal rooms inside the dome. Longhouses of the indigenous peoples of North America Longhouses were a style of residential dwelling built by Native American and First Nations peoples in various parts of North America. Sometimes separate longhouses were built for community meetings. The Iroquois (Haudenosaunee or "People of

1292-418: The years the houses were occupied. Walls met at the corners by simply butting together. They stayed structurally independent, allowing for easy dismantling. There were no windows. Light and ventilation came by shifting the position of roof planks, which were simply weighted with rocks, not fastened in position. Benches raised above the floor on stakes provided the main furniture of the houses. They were set near

1330-427: Was just the opposite. The houses were built so that planks on the walls and roofs could be taken off and used at other places, as the people moved seasonally. Paired uprights supported rafters, which, in turn, held roof planks that overlapped like tiles. Wall planks were lashed between sets of poles. The position of these poles depended on the lengths of the boards they held, and they were evidently set and reset through

1368-519: Was more stunted, they used coverings of pine boughs and caribou hide over conical structures. There was a clear division of labour among men and women. The men hunted, fished, made canoes , sledges , hunting tools and weapons of war. The women foraged, snared rabbits and other small mammals , tanned hides, cut firewood, made snowshoes , pitched tents, hauled wood, wove fish nets, and made clothing adorned with quill- and bead-work. Coats and blankets were made from woven hare skin or soft caribou fur. In

1406-863: Was the goahti (also known as a gamme or kota ). In terms of construction, purpose and longevity, it represents a close equivalent to a North American native wigwam . Most goahti dwellings consisted of portable wooden poles, covered on the outside with either timber or peat moss, in lieu of walls. This differentiated them from the other type of Sámi dwelling, the more temporary and tent-like lavvu , covered with skins or fabrics and somewhat similar to tipis. Some goahti houses were occasionally covered with skins or fabric as well, but were generally larger than lavvu , and goahti were always used as more permanent housing. Many native peoples of Northern Asia also built or build traditional semi-permanent dwellings known as chum . Though some of these Siberian native dwellings are more tent-like, reminiscent of Plains Indians' tipis or of

1444-593: Was unique to the Coast Salish of Puget Sound . The front is often very elaborately decorated with an integrated mural of numerous drawings of faces and heraldic crest icons of raven, bear, whale, etc. A totem pole often was erected outside the longhouse. The style varies greatly, and sometimes it became part of the entrance way. Tribes or ethnic groups along the North American Pacific coast with some sort of longhouse building traditions include

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