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A tipi (also teepee, tepee) is a conical tent originally made of skins and popularised by the American Indians of the Great Plains. Today, they are usually covered in canvas and lived in by American Indian families attending Powwows or Encampments, teaching further generations of traditions. They are also used by historical reenactors and "back to earth" people, and in some places they are used for tourist lodgings.
The word Tipi comes into English from the Lakota language. The word thípi consists of two elements: the verb thí, meaning "to dwell," and a pluralizing enclitic (a suffix-like ending that marks the subject of the verb as plural), =pi, and means "they dwell." In Lakota, formal verbs can be used as nouns, and this is the case with thípi, which in practice just means "house."
The term "wigwam" is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a dwelling of this type.
Elements
Tipis consist of four elements: a set of ten to fifteen sapling poles, a canvas or skin cover (the outer shape familiar from photographs), an inner canvas or skin lining, and a canvas or skin door. Ropes and 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 innovations: the opening at the top and the smoke flaps, which allow the dweller to cook and heat themselves with an open fire, and the lining, which supplies a steady, controlled flow of fresh air to fire and dwellers in almost any weather. Tipis are designed to be easily set up to allow camps to be moved to follow game migrations, especially the bison. The long poles could be used to construct a dog- or later horse-pulled travois.
Tipi covers are made by sewing together strips of canvas or 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. The lining is the most difficult element to measure, since it consists of lozenge-shaped strips of canvas assembled to form the shape of a truncated cone. The poles, made of peeled, polished and dried tapering saplings, are cut to measure about six feet more than the radius of the cover.
Construction
The first step in setting up a tipi is to tie together three of the poles at the skin's radius from their bases. One end of this lashing rope is left dangling from the tie-point, long enough to reach the base of the poles. Next, these tripod poles are stood upright, with their unfastened ends spaced apart on the ground to form a triangle, each pole's base the skin's radius from its neighbours. A dozen more long poles are laid onto the three primary poles. Their upper ends rest on the lashing of the first three, and the lower ends are evenly spaced to form a circle on the ground which includes the original three poles. The lashing rope is then walked around the base of the poles three times and pulled tight. This ties the placed poles to the tripod at the crown of the tipi. The canvas skin is tied to another pole, lifted up and the top of the pole is rested where all the poles meet. The skin is pulled around the pole framework. The overlap seam is cleverly closed with wooden lacing pins which resemble double-ended drumsticks. The door is attached to one of the bottom lacing pins.
The base of the skin is pegged to the ground. Traditionally smooth pebbles were pushed into the skin and a cord tied between the bulge of skin and a wooden peg in the ground. A gap can be allowed at ground level for airflow. The bases of the non-tripod poles are moved in or out to tension the skin. Inside the tipi, a cord is wrapped from pole to pole above head height. The inner lining is suspended from this cord and pegged to the ground near the inside base of the poles. The inner lining acts as a draught and pest excluder. Skins and bedding are laid around the circumference of the tipi.
The tipi was designed to enable an indoor fire for heat and for cooking. The fire is set in the center of the bare floor. There are two smoke flaps at the top of the tipi which can be adjusted with long poles. These smoke flaps are set at right angles to the wind, so that the smoke is drawn up and out. The liner aids in keeping a smoke-free zone at ground level as air flows up and over the top edge of the liner, then down to the ground before being drawn up by the heat of the fire. To enable a fire in inclement weather, when the liner is closed completely, a buried pipe can be installed which brings air directly to the base of the fire. In strong winds the lashing rope is pegged to the ground behind the fire. A tipi which is pegged and has had its lashing rope tied down is a remarkably wind-resistant cone.
Directly behind the fire, most tribes will create a small area where the ground has been carefully cleaned, and all rocks and debris removed. Individuals will take a small bite of the meal, and bury it in the cleaned area. This serves two purposes. One is an offering or prayer of thanksgiving for the meal, and the other is a more practical reason. When the tipi is moved, there will be a small fertile area in the center of the tramped down ground, enabling nature to renew the area quickly.
See also
Further reading
- Laubin, Reginald, Gladys Laubin, (Tatanka Wanjila na Wiyaka Wastewin) and Stanley Vestal, "The Indian tipi : its history, construction, and use". 2nd ed., Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1957. LCCN 57005958 ISBN 0806122366
- Vicefield, Robert, (makata lunar) and Ronald Werner "The History of the Native Red Indian", 1st edition, Lortenor Publishing, Milwaukee ISBN 203423234534
External links and references
- Housing, Dwellings & Shelters: Tipi, tipi building resource, how-to manuals and online calculator for canvas lanes
Survival skills | House types | Traditional Native American dwellings
"Tipi"