Native American Shelters

East and Southeast

The wigwam was a round shelter used by many different Native American cultures in the east and the southeast. It is considered one of the best shelters made. It was as safe and warm as the best houses of early colonists. The wigwam has a curved surface which can hold up against the worst weather in any region. The male of the family was responsible for the framing of the wigwam. Young green tree saplings, of just about any type of wood, about ten to fifteen feet long were cut down. These tree saplings were then bent by stretching the wood. While these saplings were being bent, a circle was drawn into the ground. The diameter of the circle varied from ten to sixteen feet. The bent saplings were then placed over the drawn circle, using the tallest saplings in the middle and the shorter ones on the outside. The saplings formed arches all in one direction on the circle. The next set of saplings was used to wrap around the wigwam to give the shelter support. When the two sets of saplings were finally tied together, the sides and roof were placed on it. The sides of the wigwam were usually bark stripped from trees.

The villages of the Southeast have become known as the Mound Cultures because of the massive earth mounds built around and among the villages. The uses of the mounds vary. Some were burial places for nobility, other mounds were used to raise the houses of the nobility to separate them from the lower classes. Still others were used for ceremonial and religious purposes. Most of the inhabitants of these villages did not live within the grounds of the village area. They lived nearby in small agricultural areas and visited the "downtown area" only on significant occasions. Those who lived outside the main area provided most of the food and labor for the village as a whole. Gardens were located near the lower class homes which in turn were located near river banks and wetland areas. Most, if not all, of the burial mounds were indicative of upper class individuals while the lower class buried their people in small cemeteries outside of the village plaza. The villages of the Southeast were primarily permanent sites that sometimes housed people for hundreds of years.