The Woodland tribes had a wide variety of natural materials to use in the construction of their homes. The forest provided an abundance of wood as a natural resource that the Native Americans used to build their shelters.
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Longhouse
The Eastern Woodland tribes made large shelters using wood, bark, and mud to create long rectangular homes that were shared by several families.
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Plank House
The Northwest tribes that lived in the sequoia and cedar forests had large trees from which to build their homes. They cut long planks from the trunks of trees and fit them together with wooden pegs. These shelters were rectangular shaped and several related families lived in them. Each family designed and built their own totem pole using good luck symbols that identified the family members.
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Wigwam
Many tribes throughout the Eastern part of America built wigwams. Wigwams were dome-shaped shelters made from a frame of tree branches covered with mats of woven bark. They were built for one family.
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