EADIN] 



MATERIAL CULTURE 



105 



a 



ing to the oldest informants, the earliest type of lodge used by the 

 Winnebago was the ten-fire gable lodge, of which there were two 

 types, rectangular in form, one built on a platform and the other on 

 the ground. Poles of cedar, forked at the top, formed the sides. 

 Through the forks transverse poles were laid to which the gable roof 

 was attached. Tliree poles (na'"}i'l:'ere) were arranged in the center 

 of the lodge for the better support of the roof. Beds were placed 

 along both of the long sides on a platform raised 2 feet (Jiaza'tc). 

 Frequently a platform 4 to 5 feet high was 

 erected in the rear of the lodge and parti- 

 tioned oft'. Here the favorite child of the 

 family hved when he was fasting. In front 

 of the lodge a spot was always kept carefully 

 cleared ( nowaxi'nera) . There were two door- 

 way's to the lodge. Often the entrances were 

 shaded with boughs. According to some in- 

 formants, this was only done for the chief's 

 lodge. According to another description of 

 the gable lodge, there were only two centra 

 poles, one at each entrance ; these were always 

 painted blue to sj-mbolize the day (fig. 22, h). 



As far as can be learned at the present time, 

 the platform lodges were merely gable lodges 

 on platforms. What pm-pose the platform 

 served is now difficult to determine, but most 

 Winne])ago questioned said that it was pro- 

 vided as a protection against the dampness 

 of the ground and insects. 



The ceremonial lodge was merely a large, 

 long bark lodge. The grass lodge seems to 

 have been a roughly constructed round lodge 

 with a covering of grass instead of bark. 

 The sweat lodge was a round bark lodge 

 having a framework of four poles. The tipi 

 was of a simple t^'pe provided with a three- 

 pole framework. 



AU the evidence obtained points to the fact 

 that lodges of these t3'pes were used synchronously. According to the 

 myths and the oldest informants, in ancient times a village occupied for 

 a considerable period consisted entirely of gable lodges, but these seem 

 to have given way to the round and long type, probably borrowed from 

 the Central Algonquian. The gable type seems to have held its own, 

 however, among the more western collages of the Winnebago. The 

 round bark lodges were used in winter and the reed matting lodges in 

 186S2.'5°— 22 8 



Fig. 22.— 0, CROSS-SECTION 

 OF ROUND LODGE. 

 6, CROSS-SECTION OF 

 GABLE LODGE. 



