Talk:Igloo

Sand Igloos

Are there austrailian sand igloos still around? 169.231.11.70 20:26, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Bigger igloos

Apparently some igloos were/are a lot bigger than what a lot of people picture them as being.

Gringo300 07:57, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I seen pictures of groups of igloos were most are the usual "family" size but one is MUCH larger, looking kind of like a "town hall" or so. Seemed to be big enough for the people from all the other igloos to meet in. However I have no idea if that is usual. Although, since that is how people all over the world have built and still build their villages / tent groups / whatever it seems to be part of human nature and it wouldn't surprise me if the inuits often did the same. But I guess we have to wait until some inuit surfs in here and tells us the facts. :)) --David Göthberg 17:32, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Other kinds of snowhouses

64.231.26.84 wrote: "After the snow is piled up it must sit for a couple of hours for the snow flakes to interlock."

I sort of disagree. When me and my friends build our snowhouses we simply compact the snow by banging our spades or hands on it which takes a minute or so. Then it is compacted enough to start digging out the interior imediately. (Or in our case cutting out the door and pulling out the cardboard boxes.) We should perhaps add that to the text in some way. And note, when you build an emergency shelter you don't have the time to sit and wait some hours for the snow to compact...

The trick with sticks to indicate wall thickness is new to me but seems nice, I sure will try it next time I build a snow house. We usually use our "intuition" and sometimes if we fail and cause a hole in the wall or roof we simply repair it and add some snow on the outside to make the wall thicker again. But since we usually use cardboard boxes we only round of the walls from the inside, we don't really dig out the interior so we mostly have no problem with missjudging wall thickness. Oh, and a note about sturdiness: Our snowhouses usually survive all winter (several months) even when the kids climb on them etc. So they are usually sturdy enough if we leave the walls thick enough or if we "cheat" and pour water over the house. --David Göthberg 06:22, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Light

"In some cases a single block of ice was inserted to allow light into the igloo."

Should this not read a block of ice is omitted to allow light in? catParade 03:25, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

No, the sentence is correct. Note that igloos are mainly built from blocks of snow, not from blocks of ice. However, ice lets light through, snow does not. So if you instead of one of the blocks of snow use a block of ice it lets light in. The effect usually becomes similar to bathroom windows that lets light through but that aren't really transparent. The reason that usually only one block of ice is used (only one window) is that ice does not heat isolate as good as snow does. So building mostly from ice would make the igloo a very cold place to live in. --David Göthberg 08:32, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Freshwater ice, too, as salt is much more opaque. A really good idea if anyone is going to do fine needlework inside. HLHJ (talk) 01:02, 12 January 2020 (UTC)

Igloos in culture

Did/do inuits use igloos as regular homes or only on travel or when surprized by a blizzard? Had they other types of buildings/tents for other purposes? 130.225.127.185 08:24, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Today there are no Inuit that would use an igloo as a regular home, it's hard to mount the satellite dish to snow. All Inuit live in a house of some sort, the same as any other people in North America or the western world. Not all Inuit built igloos but those that did had different types (see the article under "Types of igloo") and some were used as semi-permanent dwellings. Yes they did have other types of dwellings. For some reason a lot of people don't realise that the snow does melt in the Arctic summer. For those Inuit who did use igloos they would also have some sort of tent for the summer. This would be constructed using wood (if found) or whalebone/antlers covered in caribou. Good picture here and the google search for inuit tents. Today very few Inuit would even bother making an igloo at all, too much work and not always easy to find the correct type of snow. Most would use a canvas tent with home made wooden poles. There would be a small one (sleeps 2 or 3) for use when it's cold or out hunting and only needed for a night or two. A larger one for the spring fishing trips when it's only -20C and you go with the whole family, could sleep up to 6. Both types of tent would have some sort of extra cover that could be put over the outside to help retain heat. Caribou skins or a longer lasting cover made from thick blankets. The tent is heated with the 4th item on this page, running one on a slow burn keep a small tent warm all night at -35C. By the way the word is Inuk - singular and Inuit - plural not Inuits. CambridgeBayWeather (Talk) 11:37, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Igloo vs Snow cave

I was searching for snow cave and got redirected here. But in my understanding they are two completely different. Snow caves are excavated out of a pile of snow, while igloos are built.

Picture: http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/images/snow_cave2.jpg

TommyMoullet 18:53, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, snow caves and igloos are two different things. Although many of the design principles are the same. Among other things, to keep in heat we prefer to have an entrance that is lower than the living area, and we often also make a "sleeping platform" to make the height difference even bigger. (The picture you linked to is a good example of the height trick.) Oh, by the way, this is the way I am used to use the terms: A "snow house" is dug out of a man made pile of snow, while a "snow cave" is dug into existing deep snow or into a snow covered slope.

And yes, eventually there should be a separate article about snow caves. But as you might have noted we already have a section in this igloo article about "Other kinds of snowhouses". So I suggest that we start by adding a section called "Snow caves". And when/if the "Snow caves" section grows big we cut it out and make it into a separate snow cave article.

--David Göthberg 05:51, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Plural of igloo?

What is the plural of igloo? Is it igloos or igli?--Lerdthenerd 08:13, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, the Oxford Dictionary states that plural of igloo is igloos. And the Google test confirms that. --David Göthberg 20:09, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

thanks--Lerdthenerd 10:14, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

someone has changed it to iglooit in the main article--Lerdthenerd 14:48, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Yupik:

Englu 'a house' (sing) Engluk 'a two houses' (dual) Englut '(many) houses' (plural)

In Inupiatun/Inuktitut for singular/dual/plural

Iglu 'a house' (sing) Igluk 'a two houses' (dual) Iglut/Igluit '(many) houeses' (plural)

As in Kalaallisut has only singular and plural but no dual:

Illu 'a house' (sing) Illut 'houeses' (plural)

Other East Greenlandic Tunumiisut:

Ittiq 'a house' (sing) Ittit 'houses' (plural) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Haqqalikitaaq (talk • contribs) 19:05, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Past Tense?

This article seems to use an unusual amount of past tense for a structure that can be built by nearly anyone. Is this meant to imply that igloos are now somehow rare? --Do Not Talk About Feitclub (contributions) 07:42, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Lowercase?

Is there a special reason why this has {{lowercase}} applied to it? 68.39.174.238 (talk) 21:02, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, as you can see through out the article igloo is used instead of Igloo, so I decided to lowercase it.-- iDosh!  talk? 13:16, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure that is correct though. There are many articles which are capitalised only when used at the start of a sentence but do not include {{lowercase}}. See Home, House, Elephant and Pig for some examples. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 22:52, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

I guess that since igloo is not a proper noun but just a noun it should capitalized ? I'm not sure what do you guys think? -- iDosh!  talk? 03:02, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes, although "igloo" is not a proper noun, it should be capitalized for the name of the article. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (technical restrictions)#Lower case first letter for examples of when it should be used. I'll change it now. --pbroks13^talk? 22:28, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

As the title of an articel I expected it to use title case... 68.39.174.238 (talk) 23:17, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Images

Hello, I have been trying to keep the images size at a non-default size because the diagram needs to be bigger than the image above it, the provisional igloo; while this one does not require as much image size. In addition the MOS clearly states that If an image displays satisfactorily at the default size, it is recommended that no explicit size be specified. Of course since in this case the images does not display satisfactory they should have specific sizes. I'm sorry for the delay but I had an emergency and I had to go. Thank you for your understanding, -- iDosh!  talk? 15:47, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with the diagram being larger to make it clearer. However the Quinzhee is not a real igloo and is now the main image on opening the page. It's displays quite well at the default size. In fact I'm not even sure that it adds to the page but might be better off in the gallery. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 23:33, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

need to put how to build one . not just pictures —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.250.195.144 (talk) 14:18, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a manual. The article should certainly have more than photographs, but details of construction steps probably don't belong. --skew-t (talk) 02:19, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Igloo building tools

The Icebox from Grand Shelters is one tool I've found for making it much easier to build an igloo, especially when the snow on the ground isn't the proper consistency to cut blocks from. Are there any other similar tools available? I remember a plastic box mold from the late 1970's or early 1980s, intended for children to build small igloos. I don't recall anything more than that. Bizzybody (talk) 09:39, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Good image that within the next two years will be in the public domain

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005691861/

--Craigboy (talk) 05:09, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

I see it's now in the article. Thanks, Craigboy. HLHJ (talk) 01:09, 12 January 2020 (UTC)

History of the igloo

The article doesn't give you any information about the history of the igloo. I'm reading Marshall McLuhan's "Understanding Media". In the "Housing" chapter on page 136 he claims that "It may surprise many to learn that the primitive shape of the igloo is, nonetheless, traceable to the primus stove. Eskimos have lived for ages in round stone houses, and, for the most part, still do. The igloo, made of snow blocks, is a fairly recent development in the life of this stone-age people. To live in such structures became possible with the coming of the white man and his portable stove. The igloo is an ephemeral shelter, devised for temporary use by trappers. The Eskimo became a trapper only after he had made contact with the white man; up until then he had been simply a food-gatherer." I wonder if McLuhan is right about this. If anyone has further information about the history of the igloo, could he or she please add it to the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.190.45.31 (talk) 19:12, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Take a look at Primus stove which was not invented until 1892 and then igloos in 1865 (just found this which says that picture was from the late 1500s) and even older ones. Igloos were around at least 60 years before the stove. Inuit did live in stone houses and here are two created before the Inuit.

"Eskimos have lived for ages in round stone houses, and, for the most part, still do." but according to Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man the book was written/published in 1964. By that time the move into settlements was well under way and the Inuit were living in wooden houses.

"To live in such structures became possible with the coming of the white man and his portable stove. The igloo is an ephemeral shelter, devised for temporary use by trappers." However, the igloo was around before the European arrival. The igloo can indeed be an temporary shelter but larger units were built for family dwellings and several may have been joined together for community uses. As for being used by trappers that is true but they were also used by the hunter while out on the ice harvesting seals.

"The Eskimo became a trapper only after he had made contact with the white man; up until then he had been simply a food-gatherer." That is correct. The European trader wanted furs and in particular fox furs. My understanding is that prior to this the trapping of foxes was done by women as the fur was used for sanitary napkins. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 17:07, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Just came across this (second paragraph page 134) which may explain why McLuhan thought the igloo was a modern design. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 17:59, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Removed Nanook and survival sections

I removed the sections referring to the Nanook film and another section which consisted of a single statement about survival in snow storms. I don't think that either of these sections added any value to the article; or at least not worthy of being denoted separate sections.. arguably it may be worth noting the film within another section of the article. David Condrey ^{log talk} 01:51, 1 August 2015 (UTC)

Engineering

There are some problems with the equations in the Engineering section. After the equation for stress, it says "where d is the diameter at the base, h the height, y the unit weight of the snow, and a = arc tan 4h/d". But y and a do not appear in the equation. I'm guessing that a is meant to be $\alpha$ and y is meant to be $\gamma$. More importantly, I don't understand the $\mathrm {S} \alpha$ on the left side of the equation. If $\mathrm {S}$ is meant to represent stress, what is the $\alpha$ doing there? Is it supposed to be $\mathrm {S} (\alpha )$, S as a function of $\alpha$? $\alpha$ is itself a function of $h$ and $d$, so it seems strange to express it this way.

Then later in the paragraph it says "The maximum compressive stress at the base of the igloo can be obtained by multiplying S,/yd times the snow unit weight y and the mean igloo base diameter." What is the comma doing after the S? Is it just a typo? If we ignore the comma, this is saying that S/yd multiplied by yd is equal to S, which is a trivial algebraic identity. Is it trying to say something more than that? And why "mean" base diameter? It's not suggested anywhere else in this section that the base may not be circular. Mnudelman (talk) 17:26, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

I would not be surprised if I made some typos. I would suggest reviewing the associated references to determine what is correct because that's where I got all the information from. Thanks David Condrey ^{log talk} 07:14, 13 August 2015 (UTC)

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Expansion

Would it be acceptable to expand the article to include how Igloos are constructed if you are not in the arctic, and general information about Igloos not created by Inuits? Or is that not in the scope of this article. Dysklyver 15:50, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

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hi

An igloo (Inuit languages: iglu,[1] Inuktitut syllabics ᐃᒡᓗ [iɣˈlu] (plural: igluit ᐃᒡᓗᐃᑦ [iɣluˈit])), also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of snow, typically built when the snow can be easily compacted.

Although igloos are stereotypically associated with all Inuit/Eskimo peoples,[2] they were traditionally associated with people of Canada's Central Arctic and Greenland's Thule area. Other Inuit people tended to use snow to insulate their houses, which were constructed from whalebone and hides. Snow is used because the air pockets trapped in it make it an insulator. On the outside, temperatures may be as low as −45 °C (−49 °F), but on the inside the temperature may range from −7 °C (19 °F) to 16 °C (61 °F) when warmed by body heat alone.[3] add a comma after inside — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.231.164.217 (talk) 00:50, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

Hi, 64.231.164.217. Thanks, I've done that; welcome to Wikipedia! Next time, do please feel you can be bold; we'd love to have your help proofreading. HLHJ (talk) 01:14, 12 January 2020 (UTC)

Historical (c.1904) European account

This is an informative account, and for the time unusually unobnoxious (the author is of the opinion that Inuit are equal to Europeans, except ease of access to a variety of resources, and thinks his own prejudices may kill him in the Arctic, so he makes an effort). Note on the language; modern Netsilik Inuit may well strongly dislike being called "Eskimo".

The seasons in these regions end just as abruptly as they set in. The Eskimo awakes one morning to find himself in the depth of winter, the sea is frozen over and the snow in places has formed drifts several yards deep. Now, there is no longer any excuse for delay in the building of snow-huts; they have all suffered enough from the cold during the past night. Soon the whole population of the colony is out selecting building sites. The main thing is to find a sheltered place, screened to some extent from the wind and not too far from water, as otherwise every drop they require would have to be procured at the cost of trouble and fatigue. The condition of the snow also is an important consideration; if it is not favourable the hut will not turn out a first-class job. The selection, therefore, of a good site for the hut is a very responsible task for the paterfamilias, and it often takes him a long time to decide on it. He carefully tests the snow with an instrument specially intended for the purpose, called a "hervon." This is a stick made of reindeer horn, straightened out like a long walking-stick. It is about four feet long. At one end there is a handle of reindeer bone and at the other a musk-ox bone ferrule (Fig. 3, p. 299, Vol. I). In the course of his examination he thrusts the "hervon" into the snow to "feel" its condition. It requires a very delicate sense of touch, developed by many years' practice and experience, to "feel" the condition of the snow. Anyone, by sticking a rod into the snow, can ascertain whether it is hard or soft, but to determine the number and condition of the various strata is a far more difficult task; for it very often happens that the snow drifts consist of layers swept together at different times and in different weathers, consequently they vary considerably in character. In one and the same snow drift you may find snow that has been beaten together into a compact mass by a storm, together with snow that has settled down on it gently in calm weather, forming a very loose layer, which is quite unsuitable for building purposes. Over this again you may get a hard stratum, and it needs the skill of an Eskimo to distinguish the loose layers in the mass of drifted snow. The ideal condition is attained when the drift has a loose layer of snow about one foot thick on the top, and a uniform mass of the requisite hardness below to a sufficient depth for making the blocks required; yet the snow must not be too brittle, as in that case the blocks are likely to crumble in course of preparation.

In order to obtain a correct idea as to how a hut should be built in the most approved style, we will pay a visit to the master-builder, Atikleura. He is standing just below the summit of the ridge beckoning to Nalungia to intimate that he has found a suitable spot and that she is to bring him his snow shovel. A glance at the site he has selected shows that Atikleura is a practical man as well as a man of taste. The position is well sheltered to the north, east, and west, and the crest of the ridge at the back will prove a barrier to the biting north wind. Towards the south the prospect is open and will have the full benefit of the sunshine. Close by there is a small lake or pond which will supply the most delicious drink- ing water for the family. The country hereabouts consists mainly of spacious plains and beautiful lakes. Meanwhile Nalungia has arrived with the snow shovel. This is made of a wooden board which Atikleura has obtained by barter from tribes dwelling further south, as there is no wood in Nechilli, nor does the smallest piece of drift wood ever find its way to these latitudes. The shovel is made in a very workmanlike manner, and excellently suited for its purpose as long as the snow is loose. For hard snow, of course, our iron spades would be preferable. It is strengthened at the lower end with reindeer bone. Now, the first thing that Atikleura does, is to shovel away the upper loose layer of snow, in the circumference within which he had planned to erect his hut. He does so with a true eye, as the large number of huts he has built in his lifetime has given him good practice. Then he draws out the knife which has hitherto been suspended by a loop on the bone peg at the back of his "anorak." It is quite a monster knife, enough to frighten anyone who had not seen it before. The blade is as large as that of an ordinary good sized butcher's knife and is made of iron, which has also come from the south; the handle is about a foot long, and is of wood or bone. Taking the handle with both hands he commences to cut out his ice blocks for building the hut. These are cut out to a size about eighteen inches wide, twenty-four inches long and four inches thick. If cut out in this way, the building site itself will yield sufficient material for the whole construction.

It is a pleasure to see how a good builder cuts each block so that it just fits where he sets it. Atikleura is a veritable prodigy at this work. Not one of his blocks ever breaks in pieces, although he appears to cut them out without any particular care. Just a cut here and there, then a kick, and the thin neat block stands separated from the mass of snow. All the blocks from Atikleura's hand are so exactly equal in size that they look as if they had been accurately measured. The hut is built up in spirals in the form of a haycock or bee-hive, so that one layer of blocks rests on the previous one and extends a little further inwards. In joining the blocks, the sides must be fitted to each other so that the walls are perfectly tight. The builder's skill can be gauged by the tightness of the hut; but even with Atikleura's skill it is impossible to avoid some few small chinks here and there. It is Nalungia's task to fill up these chinks. For this purpose she works the shovelled-up loose snow until it is as fine as grated sugar, for it is only when it is in this state that it can be used for making the joints tight. It is thrown up against the blocks as soon as they are placed in position and fills in every little hole and crevice. The walls of the hut rise quickly. As the blocks are cut out the ground is cleared downwards, and as they are set into their places, they serve to increase the height of the walls of the cleared site. Atikleura looks as if he had been standing on his head in a flour-tub; he is covered with snow all over; his clothes, hair, and beard are white as chalk. His long gloves prevent the snow from getting into the sleeves of the "anorak."

Building the roof of such a snow hut is a very complicated affair to the uninitiated. Many a snow-block did I get on my head when I essayed this work. The snow-blocks have to be set back gradually inwards, and when the work is nearing completion, the last blocks would appear to be literally suspended in the air, without any base or support. The last block (or keystone) which closes the roof, in the centre, is quite small, and in most cases triangular. To fix it in its position from the outside, it must first be juggled out through the hole which it is eventually to fill. This looks impossible, but the Eskimo achieves the impossible. With one hand he raises his block to the outside, through the hole at the top, and while holding it he cuts it into the shape of a wedee with the knife he holds in the other; and when he lowers it into the hole it fits it as if it had been moulded for the purpose.

Nalungia, aided by Errera, has perseveringly plastered over the outside of the hut with fine snow, so that it simply looks like a snow-heap. The outlines of the blocks are now quite concealed under the snow. But the hut is perfectly tight, as the fine snow works itself in wherever there is the slightest hole or crevice. The master-builder himself is not yet visible; he is still busy in the interior of the hut, where he is now completely built in. At last his long-bladed knife protrudes from the wall of snow, and with a rapid movement he cuts a hole just large enough for him to creep through. I am surprised to see how high up the wall he cuts the hole, as in all the huts I have hitherto seen, this entrance hole was quite down to the floor. Now Nalungia creeps in through the aperture, and I follow her to see what she is going to do in the way of further internal arrangements. I am at once enlightened as to why the aperture is made so high up; Atikleura has cut it on a level with the sleeping-berth, to expedite the work of "moving-in." He has constructed the sleeping-berth as follows: — He has first divided the hut by a row of snow-blocks into two compartments, of which the inner one is twice as large as the outer. He throws all the loose, refuse snow lying in the hut, into the inner compartment, until it reaches the level of the row of blocks, and there you have the "bedstead" quite ready. At the opposite end of the hut is another small erection, made of two blocks set on edge, and a third laid across them, like a table slab.

Now commences the moving in, through the aperture above the sleeping-berth. Large quantities of skins are thrown in and slung topsy-turvy upon the sleeping place. Next comes all the furniture — a drying grid, water bucket, cooking pot, blubber lamp, provisions, blubber, meat and fish, and lastly the women's personal belongings — which I dare not specify more fully. Now it looks as if all were over and Mrs. Nalungia casts an enquiring look at me, as much as to say, "Are you going to creep out?" I have no idea what is about to happen, but my curiosity prompts me to remain, thinking that anything much worse than I had seen before was hardly likely to occur; but I certainly was a little taken aback when the hole over the sleeping berth was suddenly blocked up again from outside and I was alone, with one lady, in a closed-up hut. However, as Nalungia did not seem to mind it in the least, why should I trouble? Disregarding me she set to work with a will. The heavy blubber lamp was first raised upon the little snow table near the wall opposite the sleeping berth. This lamp is made of a kind of stone they obtain from the Utkohikchyallik Eskimo; it is carved in the form of a crescent and is heavy and clumsy. It is placed upon three pieces of bone inserted in the snow slab, so that the inner edge of the crescent is turned towards the interior of the hut while the outer edge is towards the wall. The blubber bag is now brought out and a piece of frozen blubber taken from it; this is beaten with a specially made club of musk-ox bone until it is quite soft. Now r she produces, from one of her repositories, a little tuft of moss which she carefully soaks with seal-oil — ugh! I remember with horror those mysterious "light pastilles" — and then she sets to work to get a light by rubbing pieces of wood together. The "pastille" soon sends out the most dazzling rays; the crushed blubber is put into the lamp, and a wick of moss is laid along the whole of the inner straight edge; this is sprinkled with seal-oil and ignited by means of the burning tuft of moss. The whole wick is now blazing and a brilliant flame lights up the roomy hut. I ask myself what in the world she wants with this brilliant flame, as she has now finished arranging the hut, and I am almost on the point of upbraiding her for this waste of precious oil, but I refrain, as I remember that an Eskimo never does anything without good reason. In fact it soon becomes apparent that here, too, my judgment is premature. Gradually an oppressive heat spreads from the mighty flame, and now I understand that her object is to cause the newly-built hut to settle well down at the joints. As the result of the heat thus produced, the snow blocks gradually close up till they may be said to form one single continuous wall.

While this is going on, Nalungia makes good use of her time, and gets the sleeping berth into proper order. The waterproof kayak skins are laid next to the snow; these have been taken from the kayaks in the autumn, and will keep the moisture of the snow away from the reindeer skins neatly arranged over them, and the sleeping berth looks quite cosy. Again she turns her attention to the lamp and trims the wick — this has to be done frequently; the saucepan is then filled with snow and suspended over the flame by two cords, secured to two bones fastened into the wall. The family may want refreshment after this job. The drying grid, made of reindeer bone, strung over with a network of sinew thread, is now fixed up over the saucepan but not too near the fire. The skins will not bear too much heat. Finally, the "anauta," a small, round, thick, wooden stick with a handle, used for beating the snow off the clothes, is, by way of a finishing touch, driven into the wall. Everything is now ready. And none too soon; for at this moment Atikleura is calling from outside asking if he may come in. Nalungia casts a last critical look round the walls, and tells him to wait a little. He goes off muttering something which, translated, would sound very much like "d-d womenfolk" or something of the kind. Nalungia looks as though she meant to pay him out for his courtesy by keeping him waiting a little longer, and it is quite another half hour before she calls him in. Then an opening is made through the wall, right down to the floor, large enough for a man to creep through, and Atikleura's head appears through it.

A moment later he is inside the hut; he takes off his soaking wet gloves and throws them towards his wife, who turns them inside out and hangs them on the drying grid; then she takes his coat, shakes it and well beats it with the "anauta," for it is important to remove every little grain of snow to prevent it melting and wetting the coat, which is then rolled up and thrown on the bed. The outer trousers are then treated in the same way and placed with the coat next the "anorak." Atikleura stands there in his under garb. This does not sound exactly "comme il faut" according to our ideas, but it calls for no comment among the Eskimo. He now walks up to the sleeping place and sits down, not, as we might do, on the edge, but well back so that he can rest his legs. Now the footgear must be removed, and this is not a very simple matter, as an Eskimo's footgear consists of five different articles.

....It is time to turn in. Nalungia prepares the bed for the night, arranging the beautiful soft skins; Atikleura closes up the entrance securely with a block of snow, slips in under the large family bed rug, and there disrobes. Unlike the Greenland Eskimo, these people, of either sex, never disrobe in the presence of strangers, except in the greatest emergency. The guest of the family is assigned a place at one side of the hut — little Anni and Errera have turned in long ago — and the berth nearest the fireplace is reserved for Nalungia. She extinguishes the light and arranges her toilet in the dark. The large skin bed-rugs are their only covering at night. Vigorous snoring soon announces that they are asleep.

...There are still a great many trifles to keep the inmates busy in the hut next day; in the hurry, in which all was done yesterday, it was impossible to get everything arranged as it ought to be, so that there is still a good deal to be set right or improved. Nalungia's first thought is to have a window in the hut. True, a snow hut, even without a window, is light enough to enable them to see to work by day, but with a window it will certainly be much lighter and more cheerful, and they will also be able to see and judge of the weather without going out. Atikleura, who is by no means heedless of the wishes of his wife, goes down to the ice-bound lake and cuts out a suitable oblong slab for a window, which he puts into the wall over the entrance door, the most elegant window imaginable.

— Roald Amundsen (1908). "Chapter 8". The North West Passage, being the record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Gyöa" 1903-1907. Vol. Volume 2. London, Constable. p. 1-14. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help) (a Norwegian observer's account of the building a family's winter igloo, not a short-term hunting one, by Atikleura and Nalungia, Netsilik Inuit)

I followed his suggestion, and went inside his igloo. A passage led into the hut proper; this was so low, that I had to stoop down. It had two extensions, like quite small huts, and what they served for was not difficult to guess by the odour; there was nothing to see, as the dogs were the scavengers. A hole so small that one had almost to creep through it led into the dwelling room. When I stood upright inside, I was speechless with astonishment. It was quite an apartment for festive occasions; it had been constructed the day before, and was therefore still gleaming white. From floor to roof the room measured fully twice a man's height. The blocks in the wall were regular and of equal size, and the inside diameter was not less than fifteen feet. It was evident that Atikleura knew how to build beautifully. The sleeping shelf was so high, one had to swing oneself up on to it, and it was covered with the most delicate reindeer skins. Everything gave the impression of the most perfect order.

— Amundsen, Roald (1908). The North West Passage, being the record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Gyöa" 1903-1907;. Vol. 1. London, Constable.

These accounts are long, and while they are public-domain, I am not sure they belong it the article, although I have cited them on traditional building practices and put the former one in "Further reading". There must be some more modern first-person accounts, at least of hunting igloos, by people who know how to build them a bit better than Roald Amundsen. Suggestions? HLHJ (talk) 00:59, 12 January 2020 (UTC)

Engineering formula

Do we really need the esoteric math formula and explanation in the Construction section? As far as I can tell, the sources do not really refer to an igloo, and I doubt very seriously that Inuit really use (or care about) such a formula; if they do, that needs to be reliably sourced. This seems to be WP:SYN that reaches conclusions about an igloo that are not specifically stated in the sources. And that even raises the possibility that the formula and description don't even describe a typical igloo. I looked at other articles about structures (such as Skyscraper) and did not see such technical trivia. I don't mean this to be directed at anyone who added these details to the article, but it seems rather pedantic. This is an encyclopedia article about an igloo, not a course in engineering. Sundayclose (talk) 03:19, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Sundayclose I would agree that it brings little to he article. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 07:24, 21 May 2022 (UTC)