Igloos in the Canadian Arctic. 19th-century artwork of a European explorer greeting Inuit people living in igloos in the Canadian Arctic. This scene, titled 'North Hendon', was drawn by Scottish naval officer and explorer John Ross (1777-1856) during his second Arctic expedition (1829-1833). Igloos are domed structures made from 'bricks' of compacted snow. The snow contains pockets of air which makes it an excellent heat insulator, allowing the air inside to be several degrees above freezing. Artwork from the 1835 account of this expedition by Ross ('Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage').