Earth lodge

Most earth lodges are circular in construction with a dome-like roof, often with a central or slightly offset smoke hole at the apex of the dome.

[1] Earth lodges are well-known from the more-sedentary tribes of the Plains such as the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara, but they have also been identified archaeologically among sites of the Mississippian culture in the eastern United States.

The dome-like shape of the earth lodge was achieved by the use of angled (or carefully bent) tree trunks, although hipped roofs were also sometimes used.

They set posts into holes in the ground around the edges of the earth lodge, and made the tops meet in (or near) the middle.

Earth lodges often also contained cache pits (root cellar-type holes) lined with willow and grasses, within which dried vegetables were stored.

[2] Earth lodges were often built alongside tribal farm fields, alternating with tipis (which were used during the nomadic hunting season).

The park is the central point in a rebuilding and cultural renewal effort by the three affiliated tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Earth lodge interior showing the central wooden pillars, wooden walls, a packed clay floor, a fire pit, back rests, a table with food, a fur rug, cattail mats, various other furnishings, and a canopy bed
Earth lodge interior recreated in the historic Mandan town On-a-Slant, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, North Dakota
Small house built into small, grassy hill
Reconstructed earth lodge, Glenwood, Iowa
Two dirt-covered earth lodges, with a wooden platform between them and a lake in the background
Two earth lodges in Four Bears Park