An interesting house was the “long house” of the Iroquois. From fifty to
one hundred or more feet in length and perhaps not more than fifteen in
width, it was of a long rectangular form. It consisted of a light
framework of poles tied together, which was covered with long strips of
bark tied or pegged on. There was no window, but there was a doorway at
each end. Blankets or skins hung at these served as doors. Through the
house from doorway to doorway ran a central passage: the space on either
side of this was divided by partitions of skins into a series of stalls,
each of which was occupied by a family. In the central passage was a
series of fireplaces or hearths, each one of which served for four
families. A large house of this kind might have five or even more hearths,
and would be occupied by twenty or more families. Indian houses contained
but little furniture. Some blankets or skins served as a bed; there were
no tables or chairs; there were no stoves, as all cooking was done over
the open fire or the fireplace.
[Illustration.]
Algonkin Village of Pomeiock, on Albemarle Sound, in 1585. (After John
Wyth: Copied in Morgan.)
The eastern Algonkins built houses like those of the Iroquois, but usually
much smaller. They, too, were made of a light framework of poles over
which were hung sheets of rush matting which could be easily removed and
rolled up, for future use in case of removal. There are pictures in old
books of some Algonkin villages.
These villages were often inclosed by a line of palisades to keep off
enemies. Sometimes the gardens and cornfields were inside this palisading,
sometimes outside. The houses in these pictures usually have straight,
vertical sides and queer rounded roofs. Sometimes they were arranged along
streets, but at others they were placed in a ring around a central open
space, where games and celebrations took place.
Many tribes have two kinds of houses, one for summer, the other for
winter. The Sacs and Foxes of Iowa, in summer, live in large, rectangular,
barn-like structures. These measure perhaps twenty feet by thirty. They
are bark-covered and have two doorways and a central passage, somewhat
like the Iroquois house. But they are not divided by partitions into
sections. On each side, a platform about three feet high and six feet wide
runs the full length of the house. Upon this the people sleep, simply
spreading out their blankets when they wish to lie down. Each person has
his proper place upon the platform, and no one thinks of trespassing upon
another. At the back of the platform, against the wall, are boxes,
baskets, and bundles containing the property of the different members of
the household. As these platforms are rather high, there are little
ladders fastened into the earth floor, the tops of which rest against the
edge of the platform. These ladders are simply logs of wood, with notches
cut into them for footholds.
[Illustration.]