Native Americans - Housing

• Illinois Indians lived in lodges framed with bent saplings and covered with bark or woven reed mats. Central fires were vented through a hole in the roof. Four to five families lived in a single lodge, all part of one extended family. Indian villages were often adjacent to French settlements.
• During hunting trips, poles, stakes, and mats were carried and temporary shelters were easily set up by the women.

How do they compare? Native Americans | French Settlers | African Slaves

© Illinois State Museum 31-Dec-96