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Plankhouses of the Pacific Northwest
In the Pacific Northwest region, the plankhouse was the traditional form of architecture of the indigenous people. The plankhouses used by the Kwakiutl, also known as the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Haida, and the Tlingit are illustrated here.
The people of the Pacific Northwest depended on salmon as their primary economic resource. They also relied on other fish, shellfish, and various sea mammals for their subsistence. The basic social and economic patterns are similar among the different cultures in this region, with some important local variations.
Kwakiutl
The plankhouses constructed by the Kwakiutl people were made of red cedar, and were large dwellings that sheltered the members of a lineage group. Red cedar was considered a sacred, living being, even after having been cut from the trees, and each house had a name and identity. Houses sometimes had mural paintings on the front, displaying important figures in the lineage that owned the house. Some houses had posts displaying the lineage crests inside and/or outside the house.
Kwakiutl house. (Drawing based on Nabokov and Easton 1989)
The Kwakiutl house was usually square, with sides from 40 to 60 feet long. The central and side posts and beams framed the gable roof. Lighter poles completed the framing, and long planks with grooves were placed horizontally at the front and the back of the house. Wall planks for the front and back were set vertically in the grooves of the base plank, and the side wall planks were set into the ground. Roof planks were overlapped for good drainage. Inside the house, another row of horizontal planks were placed some distance from the outside walls, and this space filled with earth, creating a platform on which separate bedroom walls were built. These areas provided separate living spaces for the various nuclear families making up the lineage household. The occupants gathered in the central area around the fire for meals, domestic chores, and social activities. During the winter, ceremonies were held in the lineage houses, with masked dancers, dramatic rituals, and feasting.
Kwakiutl house frame
Kwakiutl Village ca. 1905
For the Kwakiutl and other people of the region, each lineage had the exclusive right to display certain images that are important figures in the history of the lineage. These are sometimes animals and sometimes mythical beings. Figures often used in Kwakiutl iconography include the raven, eagle or thunderbird, wolf, crane, beaver, and whale. Red and black were the traditional colors, symbolizing death and rebirth.
Carved beams in a Kwakiutl house
Kwakiutl house with "snapping" mouth door
Haida
There were two forms of traditional Haida architecture; one was a two beam house similar to the Kwakiutl plankhouse, and the other, more common form was the six-beam house.
Haida house. (Drawing based on Nabokov and Easton 1989)
Haida houses were also constructed of red cedar. Four slotted and notched corner posts held a bottom wall plank and a sloping roof plate beam. Two central posts, spaced about 4 feet apart, support the roof plate beams. The six roof support beams were placed on the roof plate beams. Sidewall planks were placed vertically in the grooved bottom wall planks around the structure. A pole with the crests of the lineage of the house was built in the front wall in the space between the central posts. Occasionally, the front of a house would be painted with the lineage crests, rather than marked with the crest pole. Haida houses also had two levels inside, similar to the Kwakiutl houses.
Haida village of Skidgate
The Haida are especially associated with what are now called "totem" poles. The figures are not "totems" by a strict definition, because the people did not consider themselves descendants of the figures on the poles. Instead, the figures are actors in stories relating to the history and accomplishments of the lineage. Figures often used by Haida lineages include the frog, whale, raven, eagle or thunderbird, and bear. The very tall poles now associated with the art of the region probably came into use only after European metal tools became available; the traditional forms were likely the smaller crest pole wood carvings.
Tlingit
Tlingit houses, unlike those discussed earlier, were made primarily from the locally available yellow cedar, spruce, and hemlock, although they sometimes acquired red cedar through trade. Tlingit towns were divided into two halves, known as the Raven and Wolf sides of the community, representing the two moieties recognized by most of the people of the Pacific Northwest region.
Tlingit house. (Drawing based on Nabokov and Easton 1989).
The traditional form of the Tlingit house had two roof beams supported by notched planks. The gabled roof was created by cross beams, built up in two levels. Wall boards were set vertically. The interior had two levels, much like the Kwakiutl and Haida houses. Sleeping spaces on the upper level were often separated by screens, and some had upper and lower bunks.
Like the Haida and Kwakiutl houses, Tlingit houses also displayed the crests of the lineage. Sometimes these were painted on the front, and in most cases, the lineage figures were represented in the interior of the house as wall paintings and/or as paintings on the screens.
Tlingit house
Source: Nabokov, Peter and Robert Easton. Native American Architecture. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
