The tepee (also tepee) was a conical construction made from buffalo hides, supported by poles, and often decorated with beadwork. It was commonly used by Native Americans of the Great Plains. The word is from the Sioux ti-pi, "used for dwelling".
Tepee-making was the job of women. It required not just hard work, but also a great deal of skill.
The tepee was undoubtedly very well adapted for the nomadic life of the Sioux tribes. It was easy to take down and put up. Women could take down their homes within fifteen minutes. The long poles could be strapped to dogs and horses and the cover could be packed away into quite a small bundle.
The Sioux moved camp five or six times in a year. Wherever they settled, the women worked hard at making life comfortable, from making the tepees to producing intricate beadwork and quilling.
The Native Americans arranged their tepees in a circle, which symbolized their life. (They believed that: "...the power of the world works in circles".)
A tepee used a hide flap as a doorway, which would face towards the rising sun.
Much of the tepee floor was covered with buffalo robes, hair side up. Beds, also made from buffalo robes, were placed around the edge of the tepee. Storage bags were kept between the beds or hung on the poles along with a water bag and the weapons and costume of the warrior. There was little in the way of furniture.
The smoke hole at the top of the tepee could be moved according to the direction of the wind. In summer, the bottom edge of the tepee could be raised to make it cooler. In winter, a tepee lining kept the home warm.
A white American, Colonel Richard Dodge, admitted that the tepee was well suited to the needs of the Indians but he found it an unpleasant place to live in. He describes the living conditions of tepees that he visited in the 1877 book Hunting Grounds of the Great West.
"The fire is built in the center, and the smoke escapes through a hole at the top. The draught is, however, very poor, and in cold weather the tepee is usually too full of smoke to be bearable to anyone but an Indian. In this small space are often crowded eight or ten persons. Since the cooking, eating, living and sleeping are all done in the one room, it soon becomes unbelievably dirty."
The tepee is still used by the Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies of North America, though now primarily for ceremonial purposes rather than daily living.
Source Daily Express March 5, 2005
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| Pixabay |
Tepee-making was the job of women. It required not just hard work, but also a great deal of skill.
The tepee was undoubtedly very well adapted for the nomadic life of the Sioux tribes. It was easy to take down and put up. Women could take down their homes within fifteen minutes. The long poles could be strapped to dogs and horses and the cover could be packed away into quite a small bundle.
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| An Oglala Lakota tepee, 1891 |
The Sioux moved camp five or six times in a year. Wherever they settled, the women worked hard at making life comfortable, from making the tepees to producing intricate beadwork and quilling.
The Native Americans arranged their tepees in a circle, which symbolized their life. (They believed that: "...the power of the world works in circles".)
A tepee used a hide flap as a doorway, which would face towards the rising sun.
Much of the tepee floor was covered with buffalo robes, hair side up. Beds, also made from buffalo robes, were placed around the edge of the tepee. Storage bags were kept between the beds or hung on the poles along with a water bag and the weapons and costume of the warrior. There was little in the way of furniture.
The smoke hole at the top of the tepee could be moved according to the direction of the wind. In summer, the bottom edge of the tepee could be raised to make it cooler. In winter, a tepee lining kept the home warm.
 |
| Sioux tipi, watercolor by Karl Bodmer, ca. 1833 |
A white American, Colonel Richard Dodge, admitted that the tepee was well suited to the needs of the Indians but he found it an unpleasant place to live in. He describes the living conditions of tepees that he visited in the 1877 book Hunting Grounds of the Great West.
"The fire is built in the center, and the smoke escapes through a hole at the top. The draught is, however, very poor, and in cold weather the tepee is usually too full of smoke to be bearable to anyone but an Indian. In this small space are often crowded eight or ten persons. Since the cooking, eating, living and sleeping are all done in the one room, it soon becomes unbelievably dirty."
The tepee is still used by the Indigenous people of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies of North America, though now primarily for ceremonial purposes rather than daily living.
Source Daily Express March 5, 2005
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