# Native American dwellings part one/The "Tipi"



## Awanita (Dec 18, 2014)

Growing up as a kid I remember watching Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett and a variety of other frontier and westerns. The thing that amazed me was every Indian village were a bunch of tipis’. Thanks Hollywood for putting into our heads that all Native Americans lived in tipis. Over the years I learned different and I would like to share with you some of the dwelling that our ancestors built or used in the different regions of the United States. So over the next few weeks in this series we will explore some of the different dwellings such as the Native American long house, wigwam, caves, pueblos and other types of dwelling. But to be fair to Hollywood we will start with the tipi because that is normally the first thing that pops into our minds…….once again thanks, Hollywood.

The tipi was used mainly by the plains Native Americans because it was very portable. A tipi could be taken down in a matter of minutes and be ready to move with the tribe. The plains Native Americans were predominately hunters and often moved to follow the herds of buffalo, elk and other game. They also had a summer camp or village as well as a winter village, during the winter the plains Native American could be found around foothills, mountains, forest and lakes where game resided year around such as elk, deer, moose, bear as well as small game, birds and fish. In the spring these tribes would break winter camp and hunt the buffalo.

The tipi was very useful for this purpose. The tipi could be different sizes depending on the size of the family that occupied the dwelling. A normal twelve foot tipi consisted of twelve lodge poles. These poles were made from spruce, pine, cedar or jack pine these woods were found to be very sturdy and straight. Each pole was fourteen feet in length with the base being about three inches and the top about an inch. To construct the tipi using the lodge poles a tri-pod was tied and erected first in the marked area. Then the other lodge poles were placed to complete the circle. Once this was done they would use the long end of the rope that held the tri-pod to secure the all of the poles in place, walking around the frame of the tipi three or four times.

The rope then would be pulled inside through the center and pegged into the ground on the west side of the center to make sure the frame did not move. The opening or door way of a tipi always faces east to keep out the rain. 
The tipi covering was made from animal hide buffalo being the most common but elk and deer hide were used as well. A twelve foot tipi covering would consist of thirty three to thirty four yards of hides which were hand sewn to create a half circle. 

The covering was laid to the west of the tipi and a lifting pole was attached to the top peg loop and then raised toward the east. Then both sides were brought around to meet at the east door and overlapped. Then the east side of the tipi was laced together. After the covering was placed the bottom was pegged into the ground with wooded pegs, two sixteen foot poles were attached to the smoke flaps at the top of the tipi. These smoke flaps were used for ventilation.

The family was now ready to move into their dwelling. The door of the tipi was always open unless it was winter. This represented that the home was open to friends, family and even travelers.


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## Plasticweld (Dec 18, 2014)

Nicely written, concise yet lets you visualize the tipi. 

I live in what was once known as the heart of the Iroquois Nation, there was at one time a large Indian village right in my back yard.  They used the long house which if you are covering dwellings you will probably write about...Bob


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## Awanita (Dec 18, 2014)

Yes Bob that is in the next chapter or part. Lot of interesting facts about the long house. In my avatar behind us was one of the largest Chickasaw villages in Northeast Arkansas before the earthquake of 1812 sunk it killing over 2000 Chickasaws. Wado Awanita.


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## Firemajic (Dec 18, 2014)

I enjoyed the read. You explained detail, method --the "Why and the How"of how things were done.I am looking forward to reading more of your work.  Peace always...Julia


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## Awanita (Dec 18, 2014)

Firemajic said:


> I enjoyed the read. You explained detail, method --the "Why and the How"of how things were done.I am looking forward to reading more of your work. Peace always...Julia


Wado Julia...dohiyi nigohilvi.....Awanita.


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## patskywriter (Dec 18, 2014)

I really enjoyed reading this. However, as a person who hasn't had the opportunity to travel around much, I have a couple of basic questions. If you could address them, I think that would be helpful for those of us who have never visited the area you're writing about and might have a harder time trying to picture it.

•   To repeat your thanks to Hollywood, I envision "treeless plains" and wonder how far they had to travel to find large stands of trees. And how do they cut down the trees—do they use chopping or sawing techniques?

•   This sounds like a lot of work, so I'm wondering if the men in one extended family put up the tipis … or the men in the entire community?

•   Do the women sew the skins together, and what materials do they use? Are they involved in attaching the skins to the poles or do they give them to the men for that task?

•   I associate the plains with terrible storms and tornadoes. I wonder if families have to pack up and move temporarily or simply stay put and tough it out?


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## Deleted member 56686 (Dec 18, 2014)

This is a really good subject to tackle Awanita. We actually had a First Americans course in my High School. Unfortunately I was unable to take the class but I did have its teacher for American History and he would sneak in a fact or two about the Native Americans. He had such a passion about it. I really wish I could have taken that class.

Anyway a very good read. I'm looking forward to your future chapters :smile:


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## Awanita (Dec 18, 2014)

patskywriter said:


> i really enjoyed reading this. However, as a person who hasn't had the opportunity to travel around much, I have a couple of basic questions. If you could address them, I think that would be helpful for those of us who have never visited the area you're writing about and might have a harder time trying to picture it.
> 
> • To repeat your thanks to Hollywood, I envision "treeless plains" and wonder how far they had to travel to find large stands of trees. And how do they cut down the trees—do they use chopping or sawing techniques?
> 
> ...


Very good questions thanks. I will put some information together and place it on a re-write for this once again Wado Awanita.

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mrmustard615 said:


> This is a really good subject to tackle Awanita. We actually had a First Americans course in my High School. Unfortunately I was unable to take the class but I did have its teacher for American History and he would sneak in a fact or two about the Native Americans. He had such a passion about it. I really wish I could have taken that class.
> 
> Anyway a very good read. I'm looking forward to your future chapters :smile:


Wado mrmustard. There are five in this series going in and trying to clean them up some. Add a few things and post them. I enjoyed writing them. Wado for reading and the comments. Awanita.


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