New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1881-03-23
An EsQuimaux Snow House.

W
means the place of igloos, and also near
Tullock Point, on King Williams Land,
where the ruins of these underground
houses were quite numerous. They
had been built = great many years ago
by the Oookjoo'ils when they occupied
the land before the Netoh llik invasion.
A long, low passage way leads into
each dwelling, SO constructed as to ex-
Guide the wind from the interior, though
ventilation is permitted by leaving open
the door.
This, by the way, is an lnnit custom.
Even in the coolest weather the door is
open except when the occupants are
asleep, and they are only closed then
to keep the dogs from making raid on
the igloo. Ii the door faces the wind a
shelter is erected outside to cut of the
wind so that the door need not be
closed. The coolest day 1 ever saw,
when the thermometer was seventy one
degrees below zero, the door of our
igloo was open all the time we were not
asleep. A snow igloo is made of snow
blocks about three feet long by eighteen
inches wide and five inches deep.
The snow knife is simply large thin
bladed knife, like cheese knife OF the
grocery stores, with handle made
large enough to be conveniently grasped
with both hands. Before iron and
knives became so plentiful as at present
snow knives were made of bone and
reindeer or musk-ox horn, but such
knives are quite rare now. The Net
chillin, Ookjoolik and Ooquesiksillik
tribes are still quite deficient in iron
weapons and implements, and many of
their knives are marvels of ingenuity. I
saw several made of a little tip of iron,
perhaps an inch square, mounted on a
handle two feet long, and so shaped
that the iron would do most of the cut
ting and scratching, and the handle
acted merely as a wedge to assist the
operation. l also saw man making a
knife by cutting a thick piece of iron
with a cold chisel, afterward to be
pounded out flat and ground down on
stones. The entire operation would
probably take about three or four weeks
with the poor tools at their disposal.
The builder selects SHOW of the prop
er consistency by sounding>a drift with
cane made for the purpose, Of reindeer
horn, Strengthened by steaming, and
worked down until about half an inch in
diameter, with ferule OF walrus tusk
or the tooth of bear on the bottom.
BY thursting this into the snow he can
tell whether the layers deposited by
successive winds are separated by bands
of soft snow, which would cause the
blocks to break. When the snow is Sc
lected he digs pit to the depth of
eighteen inches or two feet and about
the length of the snow block. He then
steps down into the pit and proceeds to
cut out the blocks by first cutting down
at the ends of the pit and then the bot
tom afterward, cutting little channel
about an inch or two deep, marking the
thickness of the proposed block.
Now comes the part that requires
practice to accomplish successfully.
The expert will, with few thrusts of
his knife in just the right places, split
off the snow block and lift it carefully
out to await removal to it's position on
the wall. The tyro will almost newt
ably break the block into two or three
pieces utterly unfit for the use of the
builder. When two men are building
an igloo one cuts the blocks and the
other erects the walls. When sufficient
blocks have been cut out to commence
work with the builder marks with his
eye, or perhaps draws line with his
knife describing the circumference of
the building, usually circle about ten
or twelve feet in diameter.
The first row of blocks is then ar
ranged, the blocks placed so as to in
cline inward and resting against each
other at the ends, thus affording mutual
support. When this row is completed
the builder cuts away the first and Sec
ond blocks, slanting them from the
ground upward. so that the second tier
resting upon the edges of the first row
can be continued on and around spiral
", and by gradually increasing the in
ward slant perfect dome is construct
ed of such strength that the builder can
lie flat upon the outside while chinking
the interstices between the blocks.
The chinking is, however, usually
done by the women and children as the
building progresses, and additional pro-
lection secured from the winds in very
cold weather by banking up with a
large wooden snow shovel, the snow at
the base often being piled to the depth
of three or four feet. This makes the
igloo perfectly impervious to the wind
in the most tempestuous weather.
When the house is completed the
builders are walled in. Then a small
hole about two feet square is cut in the
wall on the side away from where the
entrance is to be located, and is used
to pass in the lamps and bedding. It
is then walled up and the regular door
cut about two feet high and niched at
the top. It would bring bad luck to
carry the bedding into the igloo by the
same door it would be taken out. Be-
fore the door is opened the bed is con-
structed of snow blocks and made from
one to three or four feet high and occu-
pies about three -fourths Of the entire
space. The higher the bed and the
lower the door, the warmer the igloo
will be.