Traditional DwellingWigwam

NAME : Janson Chen Ken Seng

STUDENT ID : 0323047EFFECTIVE PUBLIC COMMUNICATION

[COM 30103]

SEPTEMBER 2015

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF

North AmericaQuebec

Introduction

-Algonquin tribe,mostly lives in the area at Quebec on North America. -8,500 years ago, the south of Quebec became habitable when the temperature warmed up on this part of the Earth

-Quebec today is on the land of Canada.

-Quebec is Canada's largest province by area

-Tribes that lives in Quebec is The Abenaki tribe, The Attikamek tribe, The Ojibway tribe, The Algonquin tribe, and etc

-Paleo-Indian Era (11,000–8000 BC)

Way of LifeThe Algonquin

-Algonquin's settlement located next to river.

-Based on clan they lives 250m away from each other along the river.

-Out-door activities.

-Basically topless, when the weather become colder, they wear animal skins.

-Hunt and Farm

-Used bows and arrows, spears, and knives.

-Beans, pumpkins, and squash were mainly plant.

- Men go for hunting and women farm and take care of the kids.

-Marrige clan between clan.

-Entertainment for kids.

-Male learn how to hunt. Hunting school.

-Female learn how to cook and make clothes.

-Sing and Dance during ceremony.

Story tellings!

Beliefs

Kitchi Manitou(Great Spirit)

-A spiritual world animated and interacted with the physical world.

- Believed in an essential spirit or all-encompassing force.

- Created and inhabited the entire universe.

-Prsents on people, animals, bodies of water, the sun and the moon.

-Demonic spirit

- People who got lost in the woods would resort to cannibalism and thus become Wendigos.

-Overpowering need to consume human flesh.

-The only way to destroy the Wendigo was to kill the possessed person and burn his or her corpse to ashes.

Shamans (Witch Doctor)

-The only person capable of communicating with spirits and influencing their power over the physical world.

-Most important spiritual leaders in the tribe.

-Shaman performed magical rites, to cure illness. Dragging out the evil spirit inside.

-Visions and dreams leads to great impact to the tribes.

Structure and Layout

The Wigwam

-Also known as a "wickiup", meaning 'dwelling".

-Spring or summer house for the tribes.

-Used by certain Native American and First Nations tribes.

Structure

-Domeshaped or oblong structures.

-Curved surface which can hold up against the worst weather.

-Made of bent wooden poles covered with bark skins.

-In some cases the winter covering was of mats or thatch.

-They could be easily disassembled and moved.

-8-10 feet tall (2.4-3 m)

-Comfort and chill in the interior of the wigwams.

-Air flow hole also the smoke hole on the roof to keep the room chill and will close during rain.

-Barks repels rain easily and not easy to burn.

Layout

-The floor pattern was circular or more commonly oval.

-Fencing is to secure the clan day and night.

-Courtyard located at the centric point of the clan's settlement.

-Farming are usually inside the fencing area. Small part of land.

-Sizes of the wigwam based on the number of the family members, customizable.

-In a clan commonly consist of 6 wigma and one longhouse.

-Every wigwam's door will face at the courtyard. except for the one next to the main-entrance, to always be alert for intruders.

Types of Ornamentation Used

-As for the interior, normal household item could be seen.

-The skins of the animal hanging, keep the people warm as a cloth and also the gift from god in their belief.

-Exterior the bark marks are vertical in lines so that the water flows down without storing it on top.

-The design and the items around are simple and basic.

Types of Materials Used

Sixteen to twenty long poles of woods were planted in the ground in a circle about fifteen feet (four and a half meters) across. Strips of basswood or cedar bark to form arches.

To cover the outside, the Indians used whatever was available: bark, animal hides, even rush mats made of cattails ingeniously sewn together to make them watertight.

For the bark roof, birch was best, being light and flexible.

Revelvant Information

You can still see these traditional wigwam around these days, not only in the museum but also in Canada they change the interior into mordern style, and made it hotels.

The wigwam is commonly known as the most tradition architecture of Native American Indians related to current mordernisation.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_people• http://algonquian.weebly.com/way-of-life.html• http://www.cowasuck.org/facts/wigwam.cfm• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigwam#Bibliography• http://www.nativetech.org/wigwam/construction.html