59 



required for the operation in Labrador, but where two Eskimos 

 work, one is engaged in stamping the snow around the tiers, 

 and in filling in the cracks between the blocks wnth soft snow. 

 Sometimes one man cuts the blocks and the other builds, as in 

 Baffin island, but one man is able to construct a house alone. 



When the first round of blocks has been laid, a cut is made 

 diagonally in the tier, and the next round started in a spiral 

 which winds in a decreasing curve to the top. The weight of 

 the ascending blocks wedges those behind tightly together, so 

 that the house really becomes more solid as each block is placed. 



The Eskimo always build "as the sun goes," i.e., from east 

 to west, smacking each block tightly into place with a vigorous 

 thrust of the arm. When the top is reached, the irregular 

 opening left is closed with the keystone block {(qwdlik), which is 

 cut out to fit it exactly. The qii'dlik is lifted through and let 

 in from the top, and, the outer edges being wider than the inner, 

 it fits snugly in its place and its weight wedges it farther in 

 (Plate XI A). 



If any length of time is spent in the snow-house, an outer 

 wall is built about a foot from the house wall and snow packed 

 in between. A smaller "lean-to," adjoining the house at the 

 door, is built for the dogs. The present Labrador Eskimo snow- 

 house is usually built without the entrance tunnel. Although the 

 snow-houses appear only as an adjunct to hunting on the east 

 coast of Labrador, in Ungava and on the east coast of Hudson 

 bay the snow-house in winter and the deerskin tent {{tu-'pik) 

 in summer are the regulation dwellings. The Cape Chidley 

 Eskimo formerly built snow-houses as the regular winter shelter. 

 They were larger and more carefully made than the hasty little 

 shelters constructed on the trail. The average height would 

 accommodate a man standing, and the width would be from 

 12 to 14 feet. Old missionary accounts speak of snow-houses 16 

 feet high and 70 feet across, which the heathen Eskimo built to 

 celebrate their winter festivals in. These ceremonial houses 

 probably corresponded to the qaggi or singing-house of the 

 Baffin-islanders (see Boas, The Central Eskimo, page 600). 



The northern Labrador snow-houses had the characteristic 

 interior arrangement, with side platforms, on which the lamp was 



