Native American Earth Lodge

This week I had the opportunity to walk inside a re-created Native American earth lodge outside the Lewis and Clark Center in Nebraska City, Neb. My boss and executive producer for Standing Bear’s Footsteps, Christine Lesiak, videographer and editor Pat Aylward, and I went to shoot some footage of this in-tact earth lodge for a couple of scenes in the documentary.

It was beautiful. The folks from the Lewis and Clark Center were kind enough to make us a fire in the fire pit center for our filming. The effect was spectacular. The smoke hovered in the air and brought out the beam of sunlight pouring from the top of the earth lodge. It was very easy to image myself in 1880 on Omaha lands with my big family in our shared earth lodge home; helping my mother maintain the structure and make clothing, cooking on the open fire and sleeping on the west side at night. The west side of the earth lodge was designated for the females and little ones so that the men, and rez dogs, sleeping near the door would be able to protect us in case something happened.

The earth lodge, 514 feet in length were said to have lasted for up to two generations if taken care of properly and built on hills so that enemies could be easily spotted. The Omahas, Pawnee, Ponca, Sioux, Mandan, Osage, Otoe, Arikara and Hidatsa were among some the tribes of the Great Plains to build and live in these structures. The day was a nice outside with brightly lit tree leaves of orange, yellows and reds; yet inside the earth lodge was very cool.

I had a wonderful experience and longed for the older days when this was a reality for Native families. Today many Native families still live together as they would in the earth lodge but in the modern 4 square walls fashion. I would suggest to anyone that they take the trip to the earth lodge and experience and image the feeling of shared open space with your family.

According to the Lewis and Clark Center:
• The entrance always faces east due to the sunrise.
• The fire pit is located in the center so the smoke can escape through the opening in the dome shaped roof. The elder man slept nearest to the fire.
• The ground was tamped down and hardened by the use of water and fire.
• Smaller sticks, brush and grass combined with loose earth created a plaster shell that assisted in keeping the interior dry.
• Flowers were planted on top of the lodge.
• Earth lodges were passed down to the eldest daughter (that would have been me!) from the mother.
• Sacred songs were sung during the construction of the earth lodge to ensure its stability and safety.

Link to the Lewis and Clark Center: http://www.mrb-lewisandclarkcenter.org/trails.html