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 Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the ent ...

, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟótiyapi, and as a

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...

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 Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

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, a ...

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 th ...

, 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.

Lewis H. Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social ev ...

, "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" it is now in use, with some modifications of plan, in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, 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 The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

by Indigenous peoples of the Plateau such as the

Yakama The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their Ya ...

and the Cayuse. 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 Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of 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 th ...

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

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often re ...

s).

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. 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.

,
Houses and House Life of the American Aborigines
" Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, vol. iv., p. 114.

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 with their at-times

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

ic 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.

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 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 The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, No ...

, 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 teachings. In

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

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, ''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 Sinte Gleska University (SGU) is a public tribal land-grant university in Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. This is a Brulé Lakota Indian Reservation home to the Sicangu (Burnt Thigh). SGU has an enrollment of 828 ...

Blackfoot Tipi lessons
via Blackfoot Crossing
Cree Tipi Virtues
via

Lac La Ronge Indian Band The Lac La Ronge Indian Band ( cr, ᒥᐢᑕᐦᐃ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᓂᕽ, mistahi-sâkahikanihk) is a Woodland Cree First Nation in northern Saskatchewan, it is the largest Cree band government in Canada and the largest First Nation in Saskatch ...

{{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