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In This Section... · Migration and Language · Trade · Houses · Crafts and Utensils · Money · Food · Salmon Magic · Coming of Age as a Shasta Girl Shamanism and Healing Treasures of Mt. Shasta Hidden Lakes of Mt. Shasta The Ghost Dance Why Mt. Shasta Erupted

Houses

The Shasta house begins with digging out a large depression into the earth so that the floor of the house is up to waist or shoulder height below ground. With walls of earth, lined with cedar bark, these houses would stay warmer in the winter. The roof of the house spanned from these earth and bark walls using wooden ridge poles that brought the wood plank roof to two central crests, between which was an opening that allowed the smoke from the sunken fire pit to escape through an opening in the roof. It was a simple home compared to their neighbors, but of much wiser construction against the elements than the Sierra Tribe's bark tepees. In the summer, the Shasta moved out into a summer camp made of a brush walled windbreak with no roof. Other Shasta structures included a "large house" that was their group meeting house, a small sweat lodge for men, and a small lodge for women's monthly observances.

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