Post by awanita62 on Oct 9, 2014 11:55:28 GMT -6
In 1990 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a film that was directed by Simon Wincer directed by Stanley O’Toole, Alexandra and Megan Rose. The Movie was called Quigley Down Under it starred Tom Selleck as an American cowboy and rifleman and the setting was in Australia’s outback. Australia has been called the land down under for who knows how long. Here is the kicker Tom Selleck played the character Matthew Quigley and Quigley though spelled with two g’s in the Chinook language means down under or under ground. I don’t know if the writer of the movie knew this and used it as a play on words but it brings us to our next Native American dwelling The Quiggly.
The Quiggly was an underground dwelling of the Early Native Americans that pre-dates the invasion of the white race. The quiggly was a circular hole that was about eight feet in depth and depending on the number of families or individuals could vary in size from ten to forty feet in diameter. In the most southern part of British Columbia and the Columbia Plateau are the areas that these dwelling or the remains of the quiggly can be found, although there have been some found on the northwest Oregon coast. The quiggly hole was a very simple form of dwelling once the hole was dug and the dirt was packed around the area to build a mound this helped keep the water from standing on what would become the roof of the dwelling. Logs were cut and placed over the opening of the mound they were then tied and chinked with red clay. There are two openings in the roof one is the smoke hole the other is the door. The door is slanted toward the side of the mound some of the quiggly doors had walk down stairs while others were entered by a ladder or rope. After the roof was completed it was covered with the remaining dirt then grass was planted on top to keep the erosion to a minimum.
There were several advantages to the quiggly dwelling a constant temperature could be maintained year around. The quiggly dwelling as stated earlier came in many sizes some were used for storage (this is where the white race came up with the idea for the root cellar) some were built for singular individuals, single families and the larger for multiple families. Some quiggly towns had hundreds of these dwelling which would indicate a very large population of Native Americans. Native Americans in this area were hunters and food gatherers so the quiggly towns were built where there was plenty of game, plants for harvest, running water and sun light. The quiggly towns were also hard to spot this was to the advantage of the Native Americans In 1996 in the town of Lilloote British Columbia the Lilloote tribal council began its reconstruction project of the quiggly. They referred to the notes and writings of a man named James Teit who married a woman of the Nlaka’pamux people. Teit also gathered his information from talking to a woman of the St’at’imc who was married to a man from the Spences Bridge tribe. The tribal council took his drawings and notes to complete the underground dwelling of the “Quiggly”
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