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The Kawaiisu Culture
Shelter
Dwellings were fifteen to twenty-five feet in diameter. Smaller structures were used for storage. Built of
juniper limbs bound together with willow boughs and thatched with brush, the structures were secured to the
ground with rings of rocks.
Tomo-Kahni means Winter House, a conical-shaped structure that provided shelter during the winter. Bark
and tule mats made the structure waterproof; tule mats served as a door. Though cooking was done outside
the home, a smoke-hole in the roof allowed for a small fire pit inside. Rocks were heated in the fire
pit for warmth at night.
Other forms of shelter were used in addition to the tomokahni. The women worked in a shade house (Havakahni)
in the summer. Sweathouses (tivikahni) were built and shaped in the same manner as the tomokhani, but
covered with earth instead of brush. A simple walled circle made of brush was often used for communal
meetings, while brush enclosures were used as windbreaks. Granaries used to store acorns, nuts and seeds
were built two feet or more above the ground to protect them from rodents.
Evidence of temporary encampments is found throughout the mountains and valleys. Caves, hardly more than
rock shelters, were also exploited. In addition to providing shelter from the elements, caves seem to
have been occupied for a variety of purposes such as birthing, ceremonies, lookouts and storage.
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Kawaiisu Culture
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