Eskimo residence

Eskimo houses also use the principle that warm air cannot escape to keep the room temperature and spend the cold winter. Some people translate Eskimo igloos into "igloos", which is inaccurate.

In fact, Eskimos call all houses igloos. The mention of Eskimos is associated with their living in an igloo, which is actually very one-sided. In fact, three-quarters of Eskimos have never seen such igloos, and only polar Eskimos live in igloos all the year round. As there is no wood and grass mud, they can only use local materials and build houses with snow blocks.

In northern Canada, it is windy all the year round and the temperature is extremely low, so tents can't keep out the cold, so Eskimos in this area have built famous igloos. The Kupu Eskimos, Nestec Eskimos, Grunik Eskimos, Reindeer Eskimos and Quebec Eskimos generally use igloos in winter. These people only account for 8% of the total population of Eskimo, but they live in a wide geographical area.

Building igloos requires certain technical and mechanical stability and strict appearance requirements. The igloo built by experienced Eskimos is a masterpiece of architecture. Snow blocks used to build igloos are not optional. Choose snow blocks with uniform texture and suitable hardness. The builder first tests whether there is ice and air in the snow layer with tools, and chooses the snow block formed by wind as the most suitable. The size of the snow depends on the size of the igloo. The bigger the house, the bigger the snow is cut. The builder first estimates the size of the starting circle and builds a slope with three connected snow blocks as the starting point of the spiral snow wall. Each snow brick is a cube, but one side as the inner layer has a certain curvature, forming an arc. Each snow brick should be matched accurately to make the snow house firm and not collapse. In the process of construction, the builder is building a wall inside. When laying two or three layers of bricks, one side should be reserved for temporary use during construction. If there are not enough snow bricks, the builders will climb out and move them in. After reaching a certain height, generally build by laying bricks or stones four or five times, suddenly increase the inclination inward, start capping, and carefully cut out the last brick according to the size of the top hole. Because the reserved top holes are often irregular, the construction workers must hold the snow bricks with both hands from the inside out, cut them according to the shape of the top holes until they are completely consistent and seal them. At this time, people have been completely sealed in the snow house. The people inside built a temporary passage hole to fill the gap between the snow blocks, and then dug a door at the bottom. Dig the door where it does not affect the snow brick of the foundation. Open it on the roof.

Vents to prevent the house from overheating and melting snow bricks. After the igloo is built, the sleeping place will be raised. The method is to pile the snow on one side to the sleeping place, and then cover it with animal skins and other things.

Eskimos usually dig a tunnel under the snow outside the entrance. This passage keeps room temperature from two aspects: first, because it is snowing, wind and cold air cannot directly enter the house; Secondly, because of the tunnel entrance, warm air gathers upward in the house, and the place where people sleep is much warmer. Eskimos often sleep half naked in igloos, and the indoor temperature is maintained at around 16℃ by their body temperature or cooking with small oil lamps. There must be a hole at the top of the house to ventilate without melting the inner wall.

The above is the general method of building an igloo, and the specific details vary from person to person. Traditional Eskimos need years of observation and practice to master the technology of building igloos. The key technology lies in how to enclose the snow blocks in a circle and spiral up without any auxiliary materials. When laying bricks or stones at the top, the rising gradient must suddenly increase, which requires the builder to accurately cut the bevel angle of one brick in order to connect the next brick. In order to be stable, two bricks should be cut properly and attached to each other, and when they reach the top, the inclination is close to horizontal, and then the last snow brick should be made up, which requires skilled skills. A competent builder can build an igloo with three or four people in 1 hour, which is very fast. A person selects materials, cuts snow bricks and carries them in the freezing weather of tens of degrees below zero. Only Eskimos can do it so well.