Squamish daily life is revolved around the village community. Before contact, a village would consist of multiple dwellings called "Longhouses", which would hold a large extended family. Within a typical longhouse, different branches of an extended family would operate in different parts of the house. A standard house would be 30 feet wide, 40 feet long and from 19–13 feet high, but they could vary in size depending on how big the family was. Within their territory many villages lived near resource or culturally significant places. Kinship ties would connect each of the villages, and neighboring indigenous nations. Salmon was the main staple of food, found at one time to be in abundance in the area. Other seafood such as herring, shell-fish, and seal. Berries and plant roots also filled the diet. This made up the basis of daily life.