How to Build a REAL Igloo

[Music] the Eskimo word igloo means house and to the natives of the Canadian Eastern Arctic igloo is the snow house built of snow blocks cut from the hardpack drifts an igloo provides the Eskimo with shelter during the long winter months easy to build once you know how his home is compact and strong the igloo gains strength from its ingenious design after the first row of blocks has been put in place one block is cut to form a sloping surface the second row is started on this slope and the blocks built up in a continuous spiral the key to the whole structure on the west shore of Hudson's Bay the low rolling terrain offers little protection against the bitter cold the northwest wind to park kanaky you talk having left their families in the igloos of the winter camp are coming into the post to trade they look to a mug up of tea and pilot biscuits at the traders house the to Eskimos admire them buildings of the white man but for their own dwelling they will build an igloo first a key you talked the elder of the two selects a suitable site with his probe he tests the snow it must be hard packed and yet not so hard that it will not cut it must not be layered with streaks of soft snow that would cause it to break in handling and there must be sufficient good snow in one place to provide all the building material for his igloo this isn't always as easy as it seems for the average snowfall of the Arctic is less than in the temperate regions of Canada like all good architects they use the material found around them the snow will be both bricks and mortar packed hard by the constant wind it can be cut by a snow knife or ordinary handsaw into blocks of any size or shape the first blocks are cut from a rectangular trench which often serves as the entrance tunnel to the completed igloo a row of heel marks is sometimes used as a baseline for the first row of blocks the igloo must be nearly circular otherwise when a construction nears the top the wall will collapse from a lifetime of living with it the Eskimo knows his snow providing it is of good quality he can build the igloo entirely from snow found within the circle of the walls and since the blocks are taken from inside the circle the actual floor of the igloo will be the depth of one block below the surface of the snow outside after the first row has been erected the cut to form the sloping surface is made the next row starts on this slope and the upward spiral begins when building an igloo for an overnight shelter the Eskimo works quickly but for our permanent dwelling he takes his time fitting each block carefully to the previous one and to the one below a single Eskimo can build an overnight igloo in 40 minutes or he can spend two days constructing a large comfortable dwelling for himself and his family the Eskimo is a nomad his need is for a temporary home but who knows how long he will stay his home gets dirty he moves out and builds a new one if hunting is bad he goes off in search of food building his new house where game is plentiful the Eskimo builds his home around him always working from the inside he has cut the first row of blocks so as to have a slight inward lean which will gradually become more acute as the walls grow higher being right-handed to park works in an anti-clockwise direction left-handed Eskimos build in the opposite direction as the inward lien becomes more acute greater care must be taken in fitting the blocks together the edges of each block are beveled so that it gains support from the previous one and from the one below blocks will vary in size but are usually about 3 feet by 2 feet by 4 inches thick gradually the spiral design and the inward lean of the blocks produces the familiar rounded beehive shape this rounded shape is another excellent example of good use of the fundamental laws of architecture engineers and architects have found no better way of building an igloo it has no corners and no waist space although the temperature is 40 below the exertion of building causes both Eskimos to perspire freely within the snow walls of their almost completed igloo setting the last few blocks in place is a ticklish job unless we'll fitted they could easily fall in the Eskimos only construction tool is his snow knife he uses it for cutting the blocks shaping them and fitting them together originally it was made of bone or ivory but now he buys a steel one from the trader for about the value of a fox skin still using snow from inside the igloo the last block is shoved out through the narrow opening and trimmed to fit not until this key block is inserted and fitted like the keystone of an arch will the igloo take its final strength after it has been completed the warmth of the inside combined with the wind on the outside will cement the blocks firmly together the igloo will be strong enough to support a man's weight although a sharp blow of the fist might punch a hole in the snow wall like the man who paints himself into a corner the Eskimo has built himself into his house cutting his way out he forms the doorway of a glue the last construction job is chinking all cracks on the outer surface are plugged with snow so that no drafts can reach the interior it has taken the two Eskimos one and a half hours to build their igloo for the night caribou sleeping robes and extra skins to cover the sleeping platform provide perfect insulation against the cold snow like you talk and Tupac settles snugly inside using a snow block to close the door a hole in the roof serves as a ventilator and heap control while fresh air comes from a small hole near the door the short daylight hours of the Arctic winter draw to a close after a meal of frozen fish or walrus the dogs bed down for the night nose buried under tail thick coats protecting them from the cold each in his chosen spot on the snow igloo Miyoko says a key you talk it is warm this is my home [Music]

Channel: Alaska Extreme

Views: 772,393

Rating: 4.7618699 out of 5

Keywords: alaska, eskimo, inuit, igloo, how to build an igloo, how to build a snow cave, snow cave, winter camping

Id: 7jfWm2jTFf4

Length: 10min 30sec (630 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 14 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/gubbygub]

towards the end the narrator says they buy their metal blades for about the cost of a fox skin and im just like wishing bartering for stuff was still around, seems pretty fun to trade random shit for other random shit

dope vid tho

(inb4 but you barter with money, you know what i mean!)

[u/Tex004]

Did they say one of the Eskimos was named "Tupac"?

[u/Google_Alert]

I just read The North Water and this video answered the questions I had! Very cool

[u/christophlc6]

If you build an igloo without a door how do you get inuit?