The wigwam was the basic home of the mikmaq people. The frame of it was left from the summer camp to the winter camp because they didn't bother taking every thing from camp to camp. The other things were carried. Some will only serve as a temporary shelter sometimes only 1 day!

Most of them are small and sometimes large enough for 25 people and have 2 or more hearths. Small ones have circle floors, medium wigwams have oval floors and large ones have rectangle floors.

They cover their wigwams with birch bark, but for temporary wigwams they use fir-boughs or hides. Sometimes rush mats were used to line or spread on the floor of a wigwam. In summer they used rush mats to cover their permanent wigwams. The woman skillfully wove these mats.

The basic frame is 5 spruce poles tied at the top with a moose wood hoop and spread out at the bottom, shorter poles were laid over the other poles for more support, then birch bark is laid from bottom to top with an opening at the top so it doesn't get too hot, more sticks are laid on the bark to keep them down. The door is a big hide held down by a stick.

To us a wigwam might be a fort or a tent in the woods but to them a wigwam is home.

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