New pit house at Soda Creek

Left: Dave Johnson stands beneath the skylight.

On the edge of Soda Creek, a few miles off Highway 1 north of Williams Lake, a demonstration village has been set up to illustrate some of the traditional lifestyle features of the aboriginal group who occupied this area before the arrival of the Europeans.

This modern pit house is built around the natural shape of the wood. It is a large and spacious shelter, with this small tunnel entrance that leads from the external slit door to a large round space lit from above by a window opening.

Wooden platforms line the edges and the central fireplace is placed to allow the smoke to escape through the top.