A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟótiyapi, and as a loanword in US and Canadian English, where it is sometimes spelled phonetically as ''teepee'' and ''tepee'' (also pronounced ). Historically, the tipi has been used by some Indigenous peoples of the Plains in the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

and Canadian Prairies of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, notably the seven tribes of the Sioux, as well as among the Iowa people, the Otoe and Pawnee, and among the Blackfeet, Crow, Assiniboines, Arapaho, and

Plains Cree Plains Cree may refer to: * Plains Cree language * Plains Cree people Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically liv ...

. Lewis H. Morgan, "I have seen it in use among seven or eight Dakota sub-tribes, among the Iowas, Otoes, and Pawnees, and among the Black-feet, Crows, Assiniboines, and Crees. In 1878, I saw it in use among the Utes of Colorado. A collection of fifty of these tents, which would accommodate five hundred persons, make a picturesque appearance. Under the name of the "

Sibley tent The Sibley tent was invented by the American military officer Henry Hopkins Sibley and patented in 1856. Of conical design, it stands about high and in diameter.Sibley, "Conical Tent" It can comfortably house about a dozen men. The Sibley des ...

" it is now in use, with some modifications of plan, in the United States Army, for service on the plains." Sibley tent has one pole in the center and no flaps for guiding the smoke from the central fire.(Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, vol. iv., p. 115.) They are also used west of the Rocky Mountains by Indigenous peoples of the Plateau such as the Yakama and the

Cayuse Cayuse may refer to: *Cayuse people, a people native to Oregon, United States *Cayuse language, an extinct language of the Cayuse people *Cayuse, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the United States *Cayuse horse, an archaic term for a feral or ...

. They are still in use in many of these communities, though now primarily for ceremonial purposes rather than daily living. Modern tipis usually have a canvas covering. Non-Native people have often stereotypically and incorrectly assumed all Native Americans in the United States and

Indigenous peoples in Canada In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

live in tipis, which is incorrect, as many Native American cultures and civilizations and First Nations from other regions have used other types of

dwelling In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...

s ( pueblos, wigwams, hogans,

chickee Chikee or Chickee ("house" in the Creek and Mikasuki languages spoken by the Seminoles and Miccosukees) is a shelter supported by posts, with a raised floor, a thatched roof and open sides. Chickees are also known as chickee huts, stilt houses, ...

s, and longhouses).

Etymology and nomenclature

The word ''tipi'' comes into English from the Lakota language. The wigwam or "wickiup", a dome-shaped shelter typically made of bark layered on a pole structure, was also used by various tribes, especially for hunting camps. The term ''wigwam'' has often been incorrectly used to refer to a conical skin tipi.Usually wigwams are a domed structure; conical wooden wigwams exist, though, and presumably gave rise to the confusing of the different structures. For more, see: Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern Saulteaux, Volumes 9-10. By

Alanson Skinner Alanson Skinner (May 21, 1794 in Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire – June 7, 1876 in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York) was an American manufacturer and politician from New York. Life He was the son of Timothy Skinner and Rut ...

. The Trustee, 1911
p12
13. The conventional translation in French and English for all Indigenous dwellings at one time was "lodge," resulting in many compounds and place names such as

sweatlodge A sweat lodge is a low profile hut, typically dome-shaped or oblong, and made with natural materials. The structure is the ''lodge'', and the ceremony performed within the structure may be called by some cultures a purification ceremony or simply ...

, lodgepole pine, Red Lodge, and so on.

Types and utility

Structure

A tipi is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure.Holley, Linda A. ''Tipis, Tepees, Teepees: History and Design of the Cloth Tipi.'' The tipi is durable, provides warmth and comfort in winter, is cool in the heat of summer,With the sides raised; As seen in: Anthropological papers. 1917
p211
/ref> and is dry during heavy rains. Tipis can be disassembled and packed away quickly when people need to relocate and can be reconstructed quickly upon settling in a new area. Lewis H. Morgan,
Houses and House Life of the American Aborigines
" Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, vol. iv., p. 114. Lewis H. Morgan notes the Dakota call their skin tents, "wii-ka-yo". The following is an extract of his text:
"When first discovered the Dakotas lived in houses constructed with a frame of poles and covered with bark, each of which was large enough for several families. They dwelt principally in villages in their original area on the head-waters of the Mississippi, the present State of Minnesota. Forced upon the plains by an advancing white population, but after they had become possessed of horses, they invented a skin tent eminently adapted to their present nomadic condition. It is superior to any other in use among the American aborigines from its roominess, its portable character, and the facility with which it can be erected and struck. " .. When the tent is struck, the poles are attached to a horse, half on each side, like thills, secured to the horse's neck at one end, and the other dragging on the ground. The skin-covering and other camp-equipage are packed upon other horses and even upon their dogs, and are thus transported from place to place on the plains. This tent is so well adapted to their mode of life that it has spread far and wide among the Indian tribes of the prairie region." (Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, vol. iv., p. 114.) Historically, this portability was important to

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...

with their at-times nomadic lifestyle. Tribes would have well-organized camp circles of family units living in multiple tipis arranged in order depending on rank or roles in the family unit, community, or ceremony. Generally, the door and camp openings face east in the direction of the sunrise. A typical family tipi is a conical, portable structure with two adjustable smoke flaps, multiple poles (historically from long) called lodge poles. Lewis H. Morgan noted that tipi frames were 13 to 15 poles that were tall. These poles, "after being tied together at the small ends, are raised upright with a twist so as to cross the poles above the fastening."Morgan, Lewis H., ''Contributions to Native American Ethnology'', vol. iv., p. 114. The builders pull the lower ends out to form a circle about in diameter on the ground. They stretch a covering of tanned and untanned buffalo hides, sewn together, over the frame, which they then secure with stakes at the base. "At the top there is an extra skin adjusted as a collar, so as to be open on the windward side to facilitate the exit of the smoke. A low opening is left for a doorway, which is covered with an extra skin used as a drop. The fire-pit and arrangements for beds are the same as in the Ojibwa lodge, grass being used in the place of spruce or hemlock twigs." Lodgepole pine is the preferred wood in the Northern and Central Plains and red cedar in the Southern Plains. Wishart, David J. ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Indians''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. 89. Tipis have a detachable cover over the structure. The cover has historically been made of buffalo hide, an optional skin or cloth lining, and a canvas or bison calf skin door. Modern lodges are more often made of canvas. Ropes (historically rawhide thongs or

babiche Babiche is a type of cord or lacing of rawhide or sinew traditionally made by Native Americans. Babiche were used for all purposes for which Europeans would use string or rope, e.g. as webbing, in the manufacture of snowshoes, braided straps ...

) and wooden pegs are required to bind the poles, close the cover, attach the lining and door, and anchor the resulting structure to the ground. Tipis are distinguished from other tents by two crucial elements: the opening at the top and the smoke flaps, which allow the dwellers to heat themselves and cook with an open fire; and the lining that is primarily used in the winter, which insulates. Tipis were designed to be easily set up or taken down to allow camps to be moved to follow game migrations, especially the bison. When dismantled the tipi poles were used to construct a dog- or later horse-pulled travois on which additional poles and tipi cover were placed. Tipi covers are made by sewing together strips of canvas or tanned hide and cutting out a semicircular shape from the resulting surface. Trimming this shape yields a door and the smoke flaps that allow the dwellers to control the chimney effect to expel smoke from their fires. Old-style traditional linings were hides, blankets, and rectangular pieces of cloth hanging about above the ground tied to the poles or a rope.

Decoration

Historically, most tipis in a village were not painted. Painted tipis often depicted noteworthy historical battles and often featured geometric portrayals of

celestial bodies An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...

and animal designs. Sometimes tipis have been painted to depict personal experiences such as war, hunting, a dream, or vision. When depicting visions, "ceremonies and prayers were first offered, and then the dreamer recounted his dream to the priests and wise men of the community. Those known to be skilled painters were consulted, and the new design was made to fit anonymously within the traditional framework of the tribe's painted tipis." During the later reservation era, retired warriors would paint on canvas tipis depicting different events in tribal history, including battles with Americans. He Nupa Wanica (Joseph No Two Horns), a Hunkpapa Lakota warrior who fought in 40 battles, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn, is one such artist known for his many tipi paintings, shields and horse effigies now in museums.

Teachings

Tribes in the modern-day use the tipi as means to teach traditional, scientific and psychological teachings. The Siksika (Blackfoot) nation's worldview is based on the shape of a tipi, which inspired

Maslow's hierarchy of needs Maslow's hierarchy of needs is an idea in psychology proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in the journal ''Psychological Review''. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his o ...

teachings. In

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

communities, the tipi can represent the power of women and her role as the foundation of the family unit. In Lakota communities, youth are taught how to assemble tipis with each pole representing different traditional virtues, understanding geometry and learning teamwork.

References and notes

;General * Holley, Linda A. ''Tipis, Tepees, Teepees: History and Design of the Cloth Tipi.'' Gibbs-Smith, 2007. *

Reginald Laubin Reginald Laubin (December 4, 1903 – April 5, 2000) was an American writer, dancer, and expert on Native American culture and customs. With his wife, Gladys Laubin, he performed theatrical interpretations of Plains Indian dances. A white man, L ...

, Gladys Laubin,

Stanley Vestal Stanley Vestal (August 15, 1887 – December 25, 1957) was an American writer, poet, biographer, and historian, perhaps best known for his books on the American Old West, including ''Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux''. Biography Vestal was bo ...

, ''The Indian Tipi: its History, Construction, and Use.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989, . * American Anthropologist
Vol. 16; No. 1
American Anthropological Association of Washington, 1914. ;Citations ;Notes

External links

Tour of a Lakota tipi
via Sinte Gleska University
Blackfoot Tipi lessons
via Blackfoot Crossing
Cree Tipi Virtues
via Lac La Ronge Indian Band {{Authority control Indigenous culture of the Great Plains Indigenous architecture House types Portable buildings and shelters Traditional Native American dwellings Tents Lakota words and phrases Western (genre) staples and terminology