Tree Dwellers:: Epiphany in my Dreams?

Somehow, I knew that once I started consciously thinking about a potential thesis ideas, I would start having crazy dreams about wild ideas and potential possibilities. I'm guessing this never happens to me at school because I sleep so little- thus, dreaming is but a blissful afterthought as my brain simply tries to recover what little energy it can muster before my alarm decides to pull the "plug".

But I awoke this morning to a fascinating idea. To briefly describe the premise of the dream: I was visiting a friend's lake house (lake unknown, it had a name in the dream, however). After sneaking out onto a small motorboat with a few friends during the early morning, we took an unusual path, meandering in and out of the riverbanks away from the more residential side of the lake, which was home to the vacationer's and clearly more affluent and pricey properties.

What began to appear above our heads were these vibrant tree-dwelling neighborhoods. I believe I conceived the dwellers as illegal squatters / shelters of the homeless. But in a sense, these people were not 'homeless' at all. Through the branches (which they sought refuge from seasonal flooding season - thank you Prof. Sho & ARC 500 Goats + Cell Phones...), were makeshift tree houses, complete with ropes linking branches, crude wooden bridges, recycled trash used to construct pulley systems for water, cooking mechanisms, safety precautions, and more. They were draped in colorful linens, sheets, clothing, etc. and other drying laundry (or perhaps this served as their dresser?!) articles.

Some bungalows were more exposed, revealing sleeping people burrowed under dirty comforters, cardboard, etc. Others were more concealed behind branches and dense leaves. It seemed to be an endless community, however, just occupying the world above us, just as birds and squirrels and really numerous species far more foreign to us. This was not your average Swiss Family Robinson construction, however, but a brilliant collage of recycled life amid the canopy of the forest meant for the outcast of society. What a novel concept!

Needless to say, I awoke curious if this type of squatter living existed somewhere in the world. My cursory findings revealed two 'tree dwelling' typologies: the designer tree house (ironically- or not so- featured in Above Magazine I discovered just the other day), and the dinosaur-age-esque Korowai and Kombai tribes of New Guinea. These tribes live in trees mainly for protection (they are apparently enemies of fellow cannibalistic tribes). Mosquitoes are also apparently a reason for the at times 40m lofted abodes.