Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the MississippiBushnell, David I. (David Ives)
History
Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi
Bushnell, David I. (David Ives)
Algonquian Indians; Caddoan Indians; Indians of North America -- Dwellings; Siouan Indians
"Its construction was begun by drawing a circle on the ground, and on
the outline setting a number of crotched posts, in which beams were
laid. Against these, poles were set very closely in a row so as to lean
inward; these in turn were laced with willow rods and their tops brought
together and securely-fastened so as to form a peak. Over this frame a
heavy thatch of grass was laid and bound down by slender rods, and at
each point where the rods joined an ornamental tuft of grass was tied.
Two poles, laid at right angles, jutting out in four projecting points,
were fastened to the apex of the roof, and over the center, where they
crossed, rose a spire, 2 ft. high or more, made of bunches of grass.
Four doors, opening to each point of the compass, were formerly made,
but now, except when the house is to be used for ceremonial purposes,
only two are provided, one on the east to serve for the morning, and one
on the west to go in and out of when the sun is in that quarter. The
fireplace was a circular excavation in the center of the floor, and the
smoke found egress through a hole left high up in the roof toward the E.
The four projecting beams at the peak pointed toward and were symbolic
of the four points of the compass, where were the paths down which the
powers descended to help man. The spire typified the abode in the zenith
of the mysterious permeating force that animates all nature. The
fireplace was accounted sacred; it was never treated lightly even in the
daily life of the family. The couches of the occupants were placed
against the wall. They consisted of a framework on which was fitted a
woven covering of reeds. Upon this robes or rush mats were spread. The
grass house is a comely structure. Skill is required to build it, and it
has an attractive appearance both within and without." (Fletcher, (1).)
An interesting photograph made some 30 or 40 years ago, near Anadarko,
Caddo County, Oklahoma, is reproduced in plate 55, _a_. This shows a
grass lodge of the usual form, and to the right of it appears to be an
arbor or shelter, having a thatched roof but open on the sides. This
second structure may be of the form which was seen by the Spaniards
nearly four centuries ago, a place "where the Indians appear seated or
reclining." It undoubtedly served as a gathering place, out of doors,
and gave protection from the rays of the sun.
WACO.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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