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Igloo

Igloos are dome shaped dwellings that are made from packed snow cut into blocks with a large knife. A typical igloo was usually 9 to 15 feet in diameter. An igloo could be built by two people in a few hours. Everything inside an igloo was made of snow including storage shelves and sleeping quarters. A shelf of snow covered with animal skins provided a warm bed. The inside walls of the igloo were usually lined with old seal skins to catch any drips created by the soapstone lamp which provided light, a source of heat, as well as to cook and dry wet clothes. In fact, the insides of an igloo could become quite warm despite the freezing cold outside. Igloos were not year around homes and were used only in the coldest areas of the far north. In the short spring and summer the Inuit people living in these most remote areas lived in tents made from animal hides.