[283] And it is the type with which the early colonists of Plymouth would have been the most familiar. We have no firsthand accounts of the use of the longhouse by the Wampanoags; however, we do know that it was in use among the Narragansetts and the Massachusetts, which is strong evidence that the Wampanoags, who followed a similar pattern of seasonal settlement had this structure also.
[284] “Two families will live comfortably and lovingly in a little round house of some fourteen or sixteen foot over, and so more and more families in proportion”; Williams, pp. 60-61. However, according to Gookin, they might go up to 40 feet in diameter: “These houses they make of several sizes, according to their activity and ability; some twenty, some forty feet long, and broad.” Gookin, pp. 149-50.
[285] Champlain, p. 117.
[286] MOURT’S RELATION, p. 144; Williams, p. 67.
[287] Morton, pp. 134-35, says that they place the mats of their houses “... leaving severall places for dores, according as the winde sitts.”
[288] Williams, p. 67.
[289] Morton, pp. 134-35.
[290] Their manufacture is discussed more fully in a previous section on textiles.
[291] Williams, p. 67.
[292] Gookin, pp. 149-50.