200 



HOUSES OF KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 



npper edges standing -\ or 3 feel above the ground. Then the eartk 

 forming the bank is stamped against them, and thus a platform is made 

 running along the front of the bouse. Later on this is continued all 

 around the bouse. The frame- work of the front is the next to beerected, 

 the poles ( standing in the earth forming the platform. The upper 

 edges of the fronl boards which were implanted into the ground are 

 grooved, and in this groove the boards forming the front wall stand. 

 They are tied or nailed to the cross-bar (E) and to the foremost ratter, 

 which is connected with the framework of the front. The next thing to 

 be done is to make the rear wall and the sides. The former exactly cor- 

 responds to the front, the door only being wanting. The boards forming 

 the side walls are implanted into the ground, standing vertically, their 

 upper ends being tied to the beam forming the top of the frame-work. 

 The platform running along the inner sides of the walls is finished by 

 stamping the earth against the side walls. The roof consists of a pecu- 

 liar kind of boards, which run from the gable to the sides of the house 

 and rest on the beams ( F). They lap on their edges like Chinese tile3. 

 This arrangement has the effect that the ram runs from the roof without 

 penetrating into the house. The house front is generally finished by 

 (anting the boards oil' along the roof and by finishing them off with a 

 molding. Three blocks are placed in front of the door, forming steps 

 (T) that lead to the platform. Three steps of the same kind lead from 

 the platform to the floor of the house. The board forming the inner 

 side of the platform slopes slightly inward. The house has no smoke 

 escape, but several of the boards forming the roof can be pushed aside. 

 During the night these openings are closed, but in the morning one 

 board over every tire place is pushed aside by means of a long pole. As 

 it is necessary to look after the roof from time to time, a stationary lad- 

 der is leaned against the side of the house. It consists of one-half of 

 the trunk of a tree or of a heavy board, into the upper side of which 

 steps are cut. 



Fig. 5. Carved settee in a bouse at Qumta spfi (Hope Island). 



The house is inhabited by four families, who occupy the four corners, 

 and each of whom has a fire-place of its own. The corners belonging 

 to each family are divided off from the main room by a rough frame- 

 work of poles, the top of which is used ]\)v drying fish or other sorts of 

 food. In the villages at the northern end of Vancouver Island a pecul- 

 iar kind of frame is used for this purpose, while farther south poles are 



