Haida House Construction



Shelter is one of the fundamental needs of human beings. On the most basic level, it provides protection from the weather and predators. It may also provide a space for storage, household activities such as meal preparation, and social functions. Over the aeons of living here, the Aboriginal peoples of Turtle Island have developed a number of different solutions to housing and shelter. Some are portable, like tipis. Others are temporary, like igloos. Still others are more permanent, such as long houses. All of them were designed to use locally available materials, but also was designed to display the cultural and spiritual values of the people they housed.

One hundred kilometers west of the northern coast of British Columbia (and 600 km north of Vancouver), on the very edge of the Pacific continental shelf, lies a group of 200 islands. Since 1787, this archipelago has appeared on maps under the name of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Queen Charlotte was the wife of George III of England). The people of the Haida nation, who have lived there for thousands of years, call their land Haida Gwaii or "Islands of the People."

Surrounded by the northern Pacific, Haida Gwaii is one of the most isolated landmasses in Canada. It can only be accessed by boat, ferry or airplane. But the ocean currents around the islands have provided the people there with an abundance of forest and ocean-based resources which have sustained them for at least 9,000 years. The forests of Haida Gwaii contain some of the oldest and largest trees on the planet, mainly cedar, which is the wood of choice for construction. It is from these trees that the Haida have built and decorated their housing.


Haida Chief's House
Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization
Haida architects designed houses of beautiful simplicity, but also chose to decorate them with complex paintings that tell stories about the people that inhabited them. The house featured in this article is typical of the style found on the islands during the nineteenth century. A replica of the house can be seen at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull.

The Haida house is a seen as a metaphor for treasure box that contains wealth. It has also been likened to a living being, complete with anatomical parts. The front door is the mouth, the back opening (created by sliding the boards apart) in the anus, the post and beams are the bones and the roof and sideboards are the flesh of the house

Source: Nancy Ruddell, Raven’s Village, The Myth, Arts and Traditions of Native People from the Pacific Northwest Coast, published by the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Different Methods for Splitting Wooden Planks
Source: Artifacts of the Northwest Coast Indians

The wooden planks used in the building of the house were split from cedar trees and smoothed with a hand-held adze: a tool that is similar to the modern day carpenter’s wood plane. The adze blade was manufactured from nephrite, a hard mineral found on the islands. Our ancestors selected this stone because it could be ground into a sharp blade and could withstand the constant scraping required to smooth a wooden plank. The blade was lashed to a wooden handle for ease of use. When the stone eventually became dull, the carpenter would either re-sharpen it or replace it with a new blade.



Modern Day Planner


The Haida House, showing (A) interior raised platform and (B) hearth
Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization

All of the house’s walls were constructed by sliding the carefully crafted planks into upper and lower grooved boards. This method allowed the occupants some control over the internal conditions of the house. If it was very hot, planks could be removed for improved ventilation. If it were raining or windy, planks could be reinstalled to provide more shelter from the elements.

The house was built on corner poles, which raised the floor off the ground. This method allowed the builder to construct a large level floor. It also allowed for the construction of a fire pit that was used for heating and cooking.


Skidegate Chief's House
Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization
The roof of the building was built on an angle using an A-frame structure similar to today’s roof designs. Like the walls, the roof was made from cedar planks. The planks were held in place by rocks so that they would not be blown away by gusts of wind. A central smoke hole was constructed in the roof above the hearth. Depending on the weather, the smoke hole could be left open or closed.

Inside, the floor was divided into sleeping compartments for the families that shared the house. The house was divided by rank. The chief’s family used the back of the house, opposite the front door. This area was separated from the rest of the structure by a large wooden screen. Other families were arranged from the back of the house to the front in descending order of rank along both sidewalls. If there were any slaves living in the house, they occupied the area closest to the front, near the door.
Cheif Interior Compartment Screen Used at Skidegate Village
Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization

The Haida viewed the universe as a large house. Each side of the "house" being the four cardinal directions (north, south, east and west). As such, there was great spiritual meaning built into the structure of each Haida house and village.

The four corner posts used to support the house off the ground, represent the four corners of the world. Two invisible lines, one drawn from the back of the house through the fire pit to the door; the other from one side of the house through the fire pit to the other side - repersented the axes of the world. The line running from the back to the front of the house continues out into the ocean and the opposite end continues up the mountain to the sky world, so the house was a metaphor that joined the sky world to the sea world. The line that runs through the side walls traveled around the world and joined all the houses of the same family lineage together as one unifying village.


Source: Canadian Museum of Civilization
Haida house interior showing:

  • (A,B) through the hearth;
  • (C) the vertical axis through the hearth
  • (D) the four corner posts
  • (E) the direction followed by dancers around the hearth

The two horizontal axes met a third, vertical axis over the hearth (fire pit). The smoke rising from the central fire carried messages to the upper world. This is where the Haida communicated with the Creator by the burning of tobacco and other sacred plants and herbs as offerings. The fire carried their prayers and messages skyward to be heard by the Creator. During these ceremonies, the dancers circle the hearth. Each time a dancer moves across one of the world axes, they turn, which winds up the cosmic clock for the Earth. By doing this, they ensured that the sun continue to rise and set and that the fruits of the earth returning (like salmon) would continue to renew themselves.

Totem poles on the house also served as vertical axes which allowed the human spirit to travel skywards and the Creator’s spiritual force to travel downwards to the Earth.


For article references, click here.