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Mamateek

"Mamateek" was the Beothuk name for their traditional style of birchbark house. Here is a picture of a mamateek. The Beothuk mamateek was very similar to the wigwams of other eastern Canadian tribes. A mamateek was constructed out of wooden poles shingled with sheets of bark. Summer mamateeks were built in a conical shape like a wigwam or a tepee, but winter mamateeks were larger and had square or hexagonal walls with a cone-shaped roof. Winter mamateeks were also built partially underground and packed with moss to insulate them against the cold Newfoundland weather.

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Here are links to our webpages about the Beothuk tribe and language:

Beothuks
Beothuk history
Red Indians
Beothuk numbers
Algonquian tribes
First Nations of Canada
Subarctic natives

Here are links to more Internet resources about mamateeks:
Beothuk Housing (Mamateeks)
Wigwam Houses

And here are a few good books about the Beothuks and their homes:
History and Ethnography of the Beothuks
The Last of the Beothuk: A Canadian Tragedy
The Beothucks or Red Indians

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