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Left. Historic was when they could literally choose their neighbors.
Pawnee earth Choosing one’s neighbor also extended to the earth
lodge village of lodge dwelling itself, whose residents included at
1871. Below. least one nuclear family, perhaps grandparents from
Detail of Pawnee both sides of the house, and a favorite cousin, uncle,
earth lodge. or aunt. Living arrangements would be close but not
necessarily cramped. Because it was by choice, get-
ting along with one another was probably easier than
the formal lifestyle of tipi dwelling while on the hunt.
augmenting that diet from time to time with other earth lodges were more permanent, they were used Generally, within the tribe itself, usage of certain
fresh game, fish from the rivers, and wild fowl. Alto- primarily during the cold winter months. During areas was never contested. If a family or groups of
gether, the diet of the early buffalo-hunting Umon- this time, families, relatives, and, perhaps, even people left vacant the area they had occupied a year
hon appears to be rather balanced. close friends tended to gather in various areas to earlier, then others would come and simply take it
live in close proximity to one another. In the earth over. It was the same with the women’s garden plots.
This annual economic cycle exemplifies the dual lodge configuration, the entrance to the dwellings Year after year, if a woman used a certain plot of land
nature of the tribal life way which was both seden- could face any direction. That is, the location of the as the garden for her family, then it was considered
tary and on the move pursuing the buffalo herds. The entrance was not dictated by the strict formality dur- hers. If it appeared that she had abandoned it, then it
Umonhon People developed very sophisticated forms ing the summer hunt which required the entrance to was taken and used by others.
of social and political structures in order to maintain the tipi dwelling to face east. And, unlike tipi living,
their survival as a tribe. As such, each year they lived more than one nuclear family could live in an earth During times of peace without consideration for
in a strict formal manner during the buffalo hunt and lodge. defense, earth lodge dwellings could be built in
in a more relaxed, informal manner shortly there favorite areas where other smaller game was plentiful
after. and water was readily available—despite its hav-
ing to be hauled. It would be the opposite during
It was as part of this more informal manner that the It was during this time that the tribe broke into small- times of inter-tribal warfare when fortification was a
earth lodge dwelling plays a dominant role. Because er social groups of family, relatives, and friends. This definite consideration. At times when life was very
dangerous, uncertain, unpredictable, and unforgiv-
ing, protection of the family was paramount. The
building of a lodge would have fallen upon the male
members of the families living in the lodges. Again,
unlike tipi dwelling, where the tipi and everything in
it belonged to the women of the tribe, the earth lodge
dwelling was the construction domain of the men.
University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist 33
