Northwest Coastal Longhouses – A Family Affair (For a While)
Longhouse life was pretty good; coastal views, abundant food, wood as far as the eye could see, and living with extended family, hopefully without many family squabbles. The longhouse builder expected to stay there for his lifetime (longhouse builders were men). They would raise their family in the longhouse. The children would grow up, start their own families, and assigned a new space in the longhouse with their families. But once the head of household died, the longhouse burned or given away. The head of household’s spirit as free when the house was disposed of. If the family stayed too long in that longhouse, the head of household’s spirit would worry too much about them and not properly be at rest. But there was an advantage – it gave someone else the chance to start their own longhouse and begin the cycle anew.