# @nationalparkservice on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CWw3XORDjKk
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/21025764-nationalparkservice-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/54c80b77b3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-11-27T03:03:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Park Service (@nationalparkservice) — https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice

## Caption

Within traditional Hidatsa society, women owned and maintained the earthlodge or "awahte." An older woman with the sacred and practical knowledge of earthlodge construction supervised the entire building process. The women cut four cottonwood posts and beams and, with the help of the men, erected a central support structure. The women then erected an outer circle of posts and cross beams, leaned split logs to form a wall, and lifted the rafters into place. On top of this framework, the women laid bunches of willow branches, dried prairie grass, and thick sod to complete the structure. The finished earthlodge would be between thirty and sixty feet in diameter, ten to fifteen feet high, and took approximately seven to ten days to complete from start to finish.

Image:  Reconstructed Earthlodge made of timbers that hold up the earth and grass on top with a mound shape at @kniferiverindianvillagesnps, North Dakota

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #northdakota #earthlodge #nationalparkservice

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 24,261
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- **Comments:** 53

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| National Park Service | @nationalparkservice | https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice | Government Organization |

## Tags

nativeamericanheritagemonth, earthlodge, nationalparkservice, northdakota

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