The collection of the Sheltozero Veps Ethnographic Museum named after Rurik Petrovich Lonin features a carpenter’s ax that belonged to the joiner, carpenter and cooper Ivan Makarovich Fokin, a native of the village of Gornee Sheltozero.

The ax is designed for hewing the wooden walls of the house on the right side. The working part of the ax is ordinary, but the ax handle is special: curved, with a length of 62.5 cm. The Prionezhsky Veps, living on the southwestern shore of Lake Onega, had their own secrets of building houses. It is no coincidence that traditional wooden houses have been standing here for more than a hundred years. The ax is the main Veps tool for working with wood. People said that it did the least harm to the tree, and it was even believed that the ax did not hurt the tree.

The log house was built with an ordinary ax, with a straight ax head. When the log house was covered with the roof, the next stage began: the walls of the house were hewn. The ax handle was made with a special curvature to the left or right side, so that the master would not injure his hands when hewing the wall. The curvature created a gap, thanks to which the master’s hands remained intact, and the wall was hewed in a straight line. The ax was also used in magical ritual life. For example, the choice of a plot for building a house ended with the guarding ritual — outlining the land with an ax.

There is an extant Veps riddle: Irdal kromeine, a perti š supaleine — “On the street there is a crust (bread), and in the house there is a piece (the wall of the house).” The traditional dwelling of the Veps accommodates under one roof a living space — a house — and an outbuilding — a courtyard. They are connected by a special room (seni). The yard was always built in two tiers. On the ground floor of the yard there was a room for livestock, and on the second floor there was a hayloft. A wide log ramp led there, along which a horse with a cart or sleigh could enter.

Traditionally, the houses of the Prionezhsky Veps were built with a high basement (podklet), part of which was occupied by the kitchen, and part was used for storing food and household utensils. When the family grew, the basement was rebuilt as a living space, if necessary. The houses on the southwestern shore of Lake Onega were especially distinguished by their unique decor, the elements of which are deeply rooted in folk traditions.