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HARDWOOD FOREST The Art of the Longhouses Aboriginal architecture reached a summit in north-eastern North America with the majestic Iroquoian longhouses. The ancient villages of Stadacona and Hochelaga, along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, had dozens of these houses, each measuring an average of 25 metres in length and 6 or 7 metres in width and height. They each housed 5 or 6 families of about 5 people. Built by the men, they were known as Karonta'seronnion by the Iroquoians and ganonchia by the Huron-Wendat. Their tunnel-like structure was obtained by means of vertical and horizontal arrangements of logs, and they were covered by long strips of bark, preferably elm or cedar. Inside, fires were lit down the middle and were shared by the families living on opposite sides of the house. Porches were found at one and sometimes both ends, and were used to store corn and firewood. The longhouses were typical of corn-growing societies with more sedentary lifestyles, and were used for more than a thousand years, finally disappearing in the XVIII Century. They are still part of the Mohawk and Huron-Wendat identity. Smaller long homes are still used by some northern Algonquian nations such as the rectangular kichiihchauukimikw of the Cree which can house 2 or 3 families in winter and the shaputuan of the Innu, a similar construction.

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