Page 257 - The Lost Ways

decades. It’s crucial to find the right ones, but finding them can be daunting, and in the
old days, carrying them back to the village was not a task for the weak.

Barrett reports that there were two sets of poles supporting the roof: an inner set of four
thick poles and an outer set of eight thinner poles. At Kule Loklo, there are twelve outer
poles.

Barrett describes the four inner poles as being oak, a foot in diameter, separated by the
length of a man’s reach, and sunk in a hole two feet in depth. This is similar to Kule Loklo

except that the inner four poles are 9.5 feet apart. Barrett doesn’t give the distance
between the outer poles; at Kule Loklo, they are about seven feet apart.

In the roundhouse that Barrett describes, the two rear center poles were special. They
were treated with traditional medicine, and only the dancers were allowed to come near
them. There is no center pole in this roundhouse.

The Kule Loklo roundhouse is different. It has a large center pole, but contrary to what

most visitors think, its function is not to support the roof. Its role is ceremonial, similar to
the rear poles that Barrett describes.

Roof Construction

With the posts erected, the next step is to put the horizontal poles in place. These form
the ceiling of the roundhouse and extend from ground level to the center. Barrett reports

that they were three to five inches in diameter and were made of buckeye or willow. At
62
Kule Loklo, they are Douglas fir. A large crew of volunteers spent nearly a year stripping
bark from them using draw knives.

After the poles are in place, protective material needs to be added before covering it with
earth to block rain from seeping through. In the old days, brush was used for this layer.
Barrett describes a roundhouse in which four layers of brush were used for this.

62 Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and Park volunteers stripping bark from Douglas fir
poles for Kule Loklo roundhouse roof – photo by Erik Gordon Bainbridge

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