An Arctic Home

An igloo (or snow house) is a small house made of snow. It’s the best house for a cold, arctic environment where building materials such as wood, stone and brick are hard to find. For centuries, the Inuit (which means ‘the people’) of the Canadian Arctic made igloos as temporary houses. A house made of snow might appear too cold to be comfortable, but they actually trap body heat so they stay warmer inside than you might imagine.

The Inuit were nomadic people, so they didn’t stay in one place for very long. When they arrived at a new place, the Inuit had to build shelters quickly and easily. During the summer, the Inuit built tents from driftwood or poles and covered them with animal skins. Most of the time, they lived in small wooden houses near the coast, where they could get to their fishing boats easily.

During the winter, Inuit families needed a shelter that would keep them the warmest, and protect them from the harsh winter weather - an 'igloo'. Hunters could build an igloo in about half an hour, and that could save their lives. Some Inuit in eastern Canada and Greenland lived in igloos all winter, sleeping on beds made of snow covered with twigs and furs.