Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the Heiltsuk/Oweekeno house was its decoration. The front façade was usually highly decorated with crest figures and representations of ancestors, and the door was often circular, representing the mouth of one of these crests or guardian figures. Much like the decorative crest figures on a cedar storage box signify a watchful owner that both contains and possesses the ritual objects stored within, a house, similarly decorated, contained and possessed the persons and ritual life conducted and contained therein.
Oweekeno house post. Photo by C. Mackay, 1952. Canadian Museum of Civilization.