64 Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-18 



In the fall, before the sea is frozen soHdly over, the Eskimos often build 

 their huts on the very edge of the land.i The rise and fall of the tide then 

 frequently splits the ice, and cracks the hut above it. The roof threatened to 

 cave in on this account in one house, but its owner propped it up with a pole, 

 one end of which rested on the floor while the other was jammed beneath, a 

 board laid flat against the roof. In 1915 our first snow-hut in the fall was 

 built above a tide-crack, and during the night we were awakened several times 

 by loud reports like gun-shots;, next morning we found our hut was split from 

 one side to the other. On another occasion the house-wife was dressing and 

 stepped from the sleeping platform to the floor, when suddenly she sank up to 

 her knees in a pool of slush ice where the tide had oozed up through a crack. 

 Even when badly cracked, soft snow jammed in the seams will hold a house 

 together, unless the cracks are opened further by the next high tide. The 

 walls show wonderful stabiUty, and even half a hut will stand alone and un- 

 supported. 



The size of the hut depends on the number of occupants, but the length of 

 the passage is determined by other considerations, mainly by that of warmth. 

 A hut that is built for one night only has hardly any passage at all, while those 

 intended for longer occupation have passages ranging in length from 15 to 40 

 feet. They are often made quite short at first, and extended when a gale arises. 

 Sometimes the entrance is slightly curved away from the wind, or given a T- 

 shape so that one mouth or the other can be closed according to the weather. 

 One man built a dome-shaped rpof over his entrance, forming a kind of store- 

 house; but this was very unusual, most natives merely broadening the passage 

 in one place to answer the same purpose. Generally the house is built to face 

 the south so that the window will catch the light of the sun; the passage will 

 then also run towards the south. But the rule is not invariable, since the 

 builder has to modify his plans in accordance with the depth of snow. 



A small hut was built for me when I paid my first visit to these Eskimos. 

 It was oval in plan, 10 feet long, 6 feet 9 inches wide, and 4 feet 6 inches high. 

 The blocks were of different sizes, the bottom ones, as usual, much larger than 

 those above. They varied greatly in shape, too, leaving many ill-fitting open 

 corners which were blocked with snow. Soft drift-snow was piled round the 

 bottom of the outside to keep out the draught. The door was a small arch cut 

 in two bottom blocks 2 feet high and 1 foot 10 inches wide. There was no 

 window, but the snow was semi-translucent and gave sufficient light for most 

 purposes during the day. The passage was very short and slightly curved. It 

 was unroofed save for one block over the door, but the next day when a strong 

 wind arose and the snow began to drift my native donned his working clothes 

 and in about five minutes covered it over and slightly extended the mouth so 

 that it pointed away from the wind. The door itself was a snow-block shaped 

 to fit the doorway. It was therefore longer than it was broad and so could be 

 pushed inside ; for at night before going to bed the door is always closed from the 

 inside. There was a groove cut in the middle of its inner face so that it could 

 be lifted more readily. Often when the weather is mild the natives merely cover 

 the doorway with a skin or bag, or throw their coats down in the entrance, 

 provided that the dogs are not so starved that they will tear the skins to pieces 

 during the night. 



'Mr. Stefansson (Anthrop. Papers, A.M.N.H., Vol. XIV, it. I, p.50) saysthattheKanghiryuanniut 

 are the only Copper Eskimos, except perhaps the Ekaluktomiut, who ever build winter houses on land 

 or even near land. This is exactly where every tribe does build them in the fall,. and again in the late 

 spring. 



