What are the kwakiutl Indians dwellings made of?

Answer 1

The Kwakiutls lived in coastal villages consisting of rectangular cedar-plank houses with bark roofs. These houses were usually large; they could be up to 100 feet long. Each one housed several families from the same clan, up to 50 people.

Answer 2

The Kwakiutl of northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland had access to very large cedar trees, which they used to construct cedar-framed buildings. The roof beams and corner posts were permanent, but the walls and roofs were removable planks; an entire village of people could move from the winter to the summer site taking these planks with them - the move would be by water and two canoes would be lashed together with the house planks laid across them, creating a platform for household goods.

Each house held several families. The walls were often painted with family crests; permanent totem pole stood against the front of each house to proclaim the crests and history of those within. Each family had a separate cooking fire inside the house and fish and meat could be hung from the rafters to dry over these fires. Cedar wood was also used to construct storage boxes which would be carved and painted to indicate ownership.

Sometimes a large totem pole had a doorway carved right through it.

The Kwakiutl were very skilled at splitting cedar into planks for their houses, at first with stone tools and wedges but later with iron axes obtained in trade.

The links below will provide you with images of this type of house:

Answer 3

The tribes of the Pacific north-west were unique among native Americans for using cedar planks to build their homes. The area is rich in large, tall, straight cedar trees which were felled and split into huge planks.

Large rectangular houses were made with a permanent framework of corner posts and roof-beams, but the walls and roofs were made of removable planks. This meant that the people could move from the winter to the summer village taking the walls and roof planks with them.

Each house held several families; the walls would be painted with family crests and totem poles stood outside the front of each house - often a large totem pole stood centrally against the front wall and a doorway went right through the pole and the wall of the house.

See the link below for an image of a Kwakiutl house:

Answer 4

The kwakiutl dwellings are made mostly of wood and totem poles.