Athabascan Family Lodges and Cabins

Athabascan Family Lodges and Cabins. .

“Our people had log houses without nails and we all lived the same. We lived subsistence way of life, and love it that way. We have our fish houses, drying racks and all that.” , Alberta Stephan, Eklutna.

, Athabascan pole and log dwellings were similar to historic log cabins that they later adopted. In colder areas, lodges were sunk two to five feet into the ground. On the milder shores of Cook Inlet, Athabascans built log houses above ground. They slept in the back areas, and used the front part for cooking and drying., In earlier versions of the log cabin, pairs of vertical posts were placed at the four corners and used to frame the single doorway. Logs stacked between were lashed to the corner posts. Poles covered with moss, sod, caribou skin, or birch or spruce bark formed the roof. A stormshed passageway to the door kept out the cold. ‘Windows’ of tanned mountain sheep intestines let in the light. (Inscription below the photo in the upper right) Kenai log homes, 1903-1906-Outbuildings might include a steam bath hut and food cache, as well as racks of drying and working skins.