IGLU, IGLUIT. AND THE ALL SNOW IGLOO SHELTER

We all know; I should be saying; we all THINK; we know; what an igloo is. 
For all of you who live in the United States of the Americas and for any others of you, anywhere who prefer "American" to the "English" language but have never read Merriam Webster's dictionary; although it is not 100% correct; this is the definition there in for igloo: "an Eskimo house, USUALLY MADE OF SOD WOOD OR STONE, when permanent, or of blocks of snow, or ice, in the shape of a dome, when built for temporary purposes". The very word Igloo is but an "American"(from the United States of the Americas) corruption of the proper Indigenous, Native Canadian spelling iglu-plural igluit.

Although igluit are usually associated, by most people, with all Inuit, they were predominantly constructed by the people of Canada's Lower Central Arctic and Greenland's Thule area, where the snow conditions were more favourable for this type of construction (strangely, the area most suitable for this type of construction is not to be found in the Arctic at all but in the mountainous areas of western North America--you know, those areas in which we usually build our high priced winter ski resorts);perhaps, that is why the mountains are shown in the above illustration.. 
Snow igluit are very efficient shelters but require considerable practice to build them properly. Also, you must be in an area that has enough (most of the Arctic has not) snow that IS suitable for cutting snow blocks, and have the equipment to cut them (snow knife).

Note: "Eskimo" is an eastern Ojibwa or Algonquian (USA) word meaning 'those who eat their meat raw.' Inuit means "We people." . The Inuit ate about half their meat raw, because for both light and heat in the winter months there were only stone lamps filled with rendered sea mammal fats, no fuel for much cooking. However, the raw meats and fish were far more nourishing than if they had been cooked.

Architecturally, the pure snow iglu, is unique, in all of the Americas. Igluit are also much more energy/heat efficient than any of the shelters used by more Southern indigenous tribes. It is also more energy efficient than any of the brick, frame, log, sod, even stone or composite constructions used by peoples of European heritage including the present so called "Metis" or "First Nations.
Although the arch was well known to the "OLD WORLD” the pure snow iglu is the only aboriginal/native design that incorporates such construction (built based on a spiral, a dome and arch that can be raised out of independent blocks leaning on each other; and cut to fit without an additional supporting structure. The blocks of an all snow igloo do not have to fuse together).

There is every possibility that the Inuit people were taught snow igluit construction by early Norse explorers but see also the debris shelter .

You do not build an all snow igloo out of "ice"or"slush" and if it is correctly and safely constructed, an igloo does not use wet snow as a type of mortar. There should be no melted snow; so you should never get wet during the construction phase. But it does take time and energy especially if you haven't the first clue about what you are attempting to do. You could start to perspire (scientific term--Sweat). That sweat could freeze and form a thin film of ice next to your body. Try not to let this happen--because-- if does, you will probably die of hypothermia long before construction is completed.

To Build an iglu, Purely out of Snow.
First, find a drift or other area that will provide slightly COMPACTED snow--NOT ICE that has all fallen at approximately the same time (blocks that are formed from snow that has fallen during markedly different time periods tend to separate and are not suitable for construction). Most of the construction is done from the inside and the entrance is actually an exit cut through the side AFTER  construction is almost completed.

The above diagrams have one other serious flaw; they look a little too much like a BEAVER LODGE. The all snow iglu usually does NOT have a subterranean entrance (exit). 
         Then, before starting the construction of your igloo, you want to "lay out" its             interior circumference.

• Next in the exact middle of the circle, mark out your sleeping platform.
• Start at the exterior edge of what will become your sleeping platform and roughly cut out rectangular block of a size suitable for construction. Of course, since you are far from being an expert they will still require considerable cutting and fitting. Two blocks are usually placed in their approximate final location and then given a finished shape and fit. In order to allow ventilation, blocks do not always fit together tightly in the adjoining corners. They are not "polished", the out side of the hut is not to be "plastered" with wet or any other snow; you do not want ice. The denser a material the less it insulates. If the air, trapped in snow, is replaced by water; or forced out through compression of the snow; insulation is reduced. If you do not believe this, try a little experiment: obtain a block of solid hard frozen ice and a block of snow, both of the exact same weight; place them both on a red hot stove then closely observe. Which one of them was completely melted first?
• The top level of your sleeping plat form should be half the height of the roof (the level at which the air in your iglu is the warmest. Ensure that the roof is then high enough so that you can sit up on the sleeping platform.
• The walls and ceiling should be at least eighteen inches thick.
• In order that they act like a window and let in some diffused light; the king block, and perhaps, one other block, may be cut and shaped out of fresh water ice--but remember in the Canadian Arctic there is very little winter daylight.
• Because you do not want the snow to melt and the formation of ice in an iglu (it reduces the insulating quality of the snow and reduces ventilation; you do not want to allow the air temperature next to the walls to get above freezing (which could lead to you suffocation or death from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Inuit used "bitch" lamps (very similar to Aladdin's lamp) for some cooking and for light. However, very little cooking is done inside the main part of an iglu; heaters per-say are seldom used, and you never install a stove. 
• Snow igluit are not designed to PROVIDE heat or warmth; like a barn for farm animals, they simply TRAP body heat inside. Of course, there are other reasons for this, other than the possibility of suffocation, there just are not a lot of fuel supplies in the Arctic; especially in the winter, but even if there were, melting the iglu would not improve things in any way and especially not if you are already facing a threat to survival. Therefore, inhabitants use mainly body heat (traditionally, families all slept together; and, they slept naked), clothing, good Arctic quality mummy sleeping bags, or traditionally thick fur robes (usually caribou but polar bear as well--unlike bison, bears are solitary animals so the Inuit we quite successful when hunting them) to stay warm-- or more-- keep from freezing. I have read reports of the interior of snow igloos being dripping wet; perhaps that is in the summer. 

The building of an iglu, out of snow blocks, or even by hollowing out a snow mound; is not a good choice for a novice; without prior survival training; to even attempt in an actual disaster/survival situation.

I have read survival manuals, written by presumed, or at least, self-proclaimed experts, the authors of which had absolutely no knowledge of how an iglu is actually built or what they were talking about. Some of these "experts" even mention getting soaked during construction-the result of which- in  an actual survival situation would undoubtedly be DEATH by freezing; SURVIVAL"???; I would call it SUICIDE.

In closing, I would like to mention that there is a considerable amount of misleading information out there. While it is very true that an iglu that is built correctly will support the weight of a person standing on the roof; this is not due to the fact that the traditional Kudlik (stone lamp or "bitch lamp", mentioned above) causes the interior to melt--a lot or even slightly. The individual blocks of snow are not glued or welded together. Nor do you want them to ever be. The strength of the all snow iglu is due solely to the domed, arched, building technique; that causes that persons weight to; instead of pushing directly downward, to be evenly distributed throughout the entire structure. But, why would you ever want to stand on an iglu?

©Al-Alex-Alexander D. Girvan 1995-2012-2013. All rights reserved.

BOY AMONG POLAR BEARS, a documentary video, showing  an actual snow iglu, and how it was built; fully demonstrates everything that I have pointed out in this article.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky57HCQPSNk