ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XXXV 
habitations, which doubtless serve to prolong the retention of 
the aboriginal type. 
There is a single model for the dwellings of this branch of 
the Algonquian Indians. The structure is rectangular in plan, 
about 12 by 15 feet, with a narrow doorway in one end. The 
end walls stand vertical, while the sides, after rising vertically 
for 5 or 6 feet, are continued upward to form a curved roof, 
interrupted by an orifice over the center of the earthen floor 
for the exit of smoke. The framework is of light arbor-vite 
poles, neatly cut and shaped by stone implements and fire, the 
uprights set in the ground and lashed to the horizontal pieces 
by means of withes or splints. The walls and roofs are made 
from large sections of birch-bark, carefully overlapped shingle- 
wise and skilfully sewn together with slender splints of ash. 
The door is a dressed deerskin attached to a light crossbar, 
while the smoke-hole is provided with a shifting wind-guard 
which may be so adjusted as to draw out the smoke and exclude 
most of the rain or snow in case of storm. The wigwam con- 
structed in this way is practically wind proof and nearly rain 
proof, strong enough to resist the force of storms and the weight 
of winter's snow, and is capacious and commodious in almost the 
highest possible degree in proportion to the material employed 
in construction. It lasts five years or more without repairs, 
and with occasional repairs as needed may last a generation. 
As a means of studying the house and house building, two 
aged Indians were employed to set up a wigwam near the field 
of work in Maine, and with a view of extending the study and 
at the same time perpetuating this form of aboriginal handi- 
craft, they were afterward engaged to re-erect and furnish the 
structure in Washington. It was at first designed to place it 
in the National Museum, but in view of the limitations of space 
it was afterward decided to locate the building in the National 
Zoological Park. 
While supervising the work of the Indians on the wigwam, 
the Director and Mr Cushing observed them using a curved 
knife, held in the hand with the blade projecting toward the 
body (the handle being flattened to fit the face of the thumb, 
by which the attitude of the curved blade is controlled), and 
