The camps thus far described are supposed to be "tomahawk camps," that is,
camps which may be built without the use of a lumberman's axe. The
kolshian (Fig. 45) of Alaska, when built by the natives, is a large
communal council-house, but I have placed it here among the "tomahawk
camps" on the supposition that some one might want to build one in
miniature as a novelty on their place or as a council-room for their young
scouts. The Alaskans hew all the timber out by hand, but, of course, the
reader may use sawed or milled lumber. The proper entrance to a kolshian
or rancheree, as Elliot calls it, is through a doorway made in the huge
totem-pole at the front of the building. The roof is covered with splits
or shakes held in place by poles laid across them, the sides are made of
hewn planks set upright, and the front has two heavy planks at the eaves
which run down through holes in two upright planks at the corners (Fig.
45). These with the sill plank bind the upright wall planks in place.
The kolshian is undoubtedly a very ancient form of building and may be
related to the houses built by the ancient cavemen of Europe. The first
human house-builders are said to belong to the Cro-Magnon race who lived
in caves in the winter-time, and on the walls of one of the caverns
(Dordogne cavern) some Cro-Magnon budding architect made a rough sketch of
one of their houses (middle sketch, Fig. 45). When you compare the house
with the kolshian the resemblance is very striking, and more so when we
remember that the kolshian floor is underground, indicating that it is
related to or suggested by a natural cavern.