Qarmaq

Thule qarmaq relics in Ukkusiksalik National Park
Qarmaq (whale bone roof reconstructed) near Resolute, Nunavut

Qarmaq (plural: "qarmat")[1] is an Inuktitut term for a type of inter-seasonal,[2] single-room family dwelling used by Inuit. To the Central Inuit of Northern Canada, it refers to a hybrid of a tent and igloo, or tent and sod house. Depending on the season, the lower portion was constructed of snow blocks or stone, while the upper portion used skins or canvas.[3] To the Kalaallit of Greenland, qarmaq refers to the dwelling's wall.[4] Qarmaq were built in the transitional seasons of fall and spring with a circular wall of stone, sod, or blocks of snow, a framework usually made from animal bones, which were covered with a skin.[5]

  1. ^ Henshaw, Anne Stevens (2000). Central Inuit household economies: zooarchaeological, environmental, and historical evidence from outer Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, Canada. Archaeopress. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-84171-073-0. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  2. ^ Nabokov, Peter; Easton, Robert (1989). Native American architecture. Oxford University Press US. pp. 201, 425–. ISBN 978-0-19-503781-4. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  3. ^ Stern, Pamela R. (2004). Historical dictionary of the Inuit (Print). Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. pp. 129–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5058-3. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  4. ^ Denmark. Kommissionen for videnskabelige undersøgelser i Grønland (1891). Meddelelser om Grønland (Now in the public domain. ed.). C. A. Reitzels Forlag. pp. 72–. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  5. ^ Barrett, Carole A.; Markowitz, Harvey (May 2004). American Indian Culture: Acorns-Headdresses. Salem Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-58765-193-9. Retrieved 28 August 2011.