By Our Houses You Will Know Us

What does the study of shelter teach us about people?
How important is this way of knowing?

When Peter Nabokov, anthropologist, and Robert Easton, architect, visited a Kickapoo man and woman on the Great Plains, they were struck by the reverence in which they held their home. “We sensed an affection of this man and woman for their home, almost as if it were an older, revered member of the family. It was an attitude we would come upon again and again” (Nabokov and Easton 1989, 11). The Kickapoo message seemed to be, “By our houses you will know us.” Nabokov and Easton discovered a “chronicle of Native American history” in the homes they studied. A home, be it a grand mansion or humble cabin, records the history of the people who built it and lived there.

Objects within shelters can give us clues about how the shelter or a specific room or space is used in the present or was used in the past. For example, kitchens are usually full of pots and pans, dishes and utensils, and food and refuse from preparing meals. Bedrooms usually have some sort of a place to sleep and perhaps some personal items like clothing or adornments. Archaeologists often rely on the objects found in and around the remains of shelters to determine how they were used in the past.

We can learn about people by exploring how they build and use their shelter.