A 'wigwam,' used by Jim and Huck while staying on the raft, is a domed, round shelter. It's curved surfaces make it an ideal shelter for all kinds of conditions. They are as safe and warm as the best houses of early colonists. These structures are formed with a frame of arched poles, most often wooden, which are covered with some sort of roofing material. Details of construction vary with the culture and local availability of materials. Some of the roofing materials used include grass, brush, bark, rushes, mats, reeds, hides or cloth.
It almost shows exactly how dated we really are. With the things we used to appreciate, and the things that have become obsolete. I questioned if it were an "actual" wigwam when Twain was writing about Jim and Huck on the island, or rather just his way of describing something "shanty" in vague tense.
ReplyDeleteit must have been really warm lol we could use that now
ReplyDeleteGood point afsfoto, Twain could have easily been referring to a wigwam it's vaguest sense. Considering wigwams were mainly used by Native Americans, this is a very logical idea.
ReplyDeleteI too wondered what this word was but kind of guessed from the context. It is pretty astonishing to see all of Huck's survival skills, which I know has been brought up numerous times on this blog, but still, time after time he impresses me with his knowledge of the outdoors. I'm guessing it wasn't actually a 'wigwam' but more of the sense of just a little hut, as afsfoto was saying.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the part about the wigwam being on the raft, I was kind of stunned because when I picture I wigwam, I picture something big like the picture on this post. Both Huck and Jim must be pretty technologically advanced to build such a big raft. But not so advanced when it came to them losing it when they went on the steam boat
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