Materials for Longhouses

• The materials used to make Huron longhouses were primarily birch and alder trees and bark formed into the shape of the house. Furs or straw mats were used in the longhouses to create privacy within the house. Hides or bark were used on the roof as a protection against rain or snow throughout the year.
  
  

Making the Longhouse

• The longhouses made by the Huron tribes required a large number of trees. They would burn the trunk of the tree by piling up mud around it and then sticks before catching it on fire and allowing the tree to fall over. They then dug up holes and put the trees into the holes before bending them and lashing them together with a rope to form an arching shape. Bark or hides were used to form the roof and sides.
  
  

Size and Shape

• The shape of the Huron tribe's longhouses were almost rectangular, but were rounded at the ends and corners. They were completed with an arched shape at the top and a rectangle for a doorway. The Simon Fraser University's School of Archaeology states that the average size was about 25 to 33 feet long and around 17 feet wide.
  
  

Fires and Smoke

• The Huron tribes used several fires within their dwellings, but they did not typically have a problem with smoke. They would either cut small opening at the top in the hides forming the roof or it was not needed due to holes between the poles of the dwelling.