Tipi facts for kids
A tipi (also called tepee or teepee) is a kind of tent. It is cone-shaped. They were made by Native Americans of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies of North America. Tipis are still in use in many communities, though now primarily for ceremonial purposes rather than daily living.
Non-Native people often wrongly assume that all Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada live in tipis. This is not true. Many Native American cultures and civilizations and First Nations from other regions have used other types of dwellings (pueblos, wigwams, hogans, chickees, and longhouses).
Tepees are made from long poles, and are covered with material. Long ago the material was animal skin or tree bark. Today, they are made from cloth.
Contents
Structure
A tipi is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure. The tipi is durable, provides warmth and comfort in winter, is cool in the heat of summer, 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. Historically, this portability was important to Plains Indians 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 12 to 25 ft or 3.7 to 7.6 m long) called lodge poles.
Lewis H. Morgan noted that tipi frames were 13 to 15 poles that were 4.6 to 5.5 metres (15–18 ft) 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." The builders pull the lower ends out to form a circle about 3.0 metres (10 ft) 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.
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.
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.
Indigenous peoples who used tipis
Historically, the tipi has been used by certain Indigenous peoples of the Plains in the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies of North America, 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. They are also used west of the Rocky Mountains by Indigenous peoples of the Plateau such as the Yakama and the Cayuse.
Interesting facts about Tipi
- A tipi is a loanword that came into English from the Dakota language and Lakota language.
- Modern tipis usually have a canvas covering.
- The spelling tipi is the one most common in Canadian English whereas the spelling tepee is the most common one according to American English dictionaries.
- The doorway of a tipi would generally face towards the rising sun.
- Tipis had an 'ears' flap that could be open and closed if necessary during the summer and winter months.
Images for kids
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An Oglala Lakota tipi, 1891
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Crow lodge interior, 1907, showing the poles and outer skin at the top, the inner lining and bedding. The lashing rope is tied off to a wooden stake at the bottom of the photograph. Clothing is suspended on a line tied between two of the tipi poles.
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Examples of painted tipi covers, from Paul Goble’s book, Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters, 2007.
See also
In Spanish: Tipi para niños
- Chum (tent), a similar structure used by various peoples from northwestern Siberia to northern Mongolia.
- Goahti, a somewhat similar structure used by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia
- Lavvu, a conical tent covered with reindeer hides, used by the Sámi people of northern Scandinavia
- Plains hide painting
