Nature Bulletin No. 555-A   February 22, 1975
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:THE TIPI

In earlier years at the Little Red Schoolhouse nature center we erected a 
"waginogan" of the type used by the Ojibway, Potawatomi and other 
Indians who lived in the forests around the Great Lakes. It was oblong, 
with a dome-shaped roof, and its framework of light poles was covered 
with slabs of elm bark. This proved a surprise to many people who had 
had the impression that all Indians lived in teepees or wigwams -- 
portable cone-shaped "tents" covered with skins.

Tipi is a Sioux word, meaning "to dwell in," for the lodge used by that 
nation (the Dakota) and most Indians of the Great Plains because they 
subsisted almost entirely on the vast herds of buffalo which they 
followed from place to place. The Ojibway, who feared the warlike 
Sioux, called it "bwahn wig' wahm" (enemy dwelling).

Before Coronado explored the Southwest there were no horses in this 
country and the plains Indians had permanent homes built with earth 
and sod. For a temporary lodge while hunting they used a small light 
tipi which, when bundled up, could be dragged as a travois by a dog -- 
their only domestic animal. When horses became available, most of 
them -- excepting the Pawnee, Mandan and Hidatsa tribes -- abandoned 
the earthen lodges and roamed the prairies with much larger tipis as 
their year-round homes. Some of those were 20 feet tall.

The erection of a tipi began with a tripod of 3 poles or, in some tribes, a 
quadripod of 4 poles lashed together at the top. Then other poles were 
added so that all were equally spaced and two or more feet apart at the 
bottom. The entrance faced east so that the lodge would get only the 
morning sun. There being little or no timber on the plains, the Indians 
would go hundreds of miles to get good straight poles, especially young 
lodgepole pines, and those were transported from one camp to the next.

The cover was made from the hides of young cow bison -- preferably 
those killed in spring when their skins were believed to be thinnest. 
Seventeen or more hides -- only 7 in the old "dog days" -- were cut to a 
pattern and sewn together with sinews by the women, supervised by a 
wise old squaw. The smoke naps at the top, manipulated by poles to 
control the draft of the fire, were sewn on by a woman noted for her 
cheerful good nature -- never a shrew. With a cover previously 
prepared, an experienced group of squaws could erect a tipi in a matter 
of minutes.

There was an inner liner or "dew" cloth, decorated with designs and 
pictographs, that provided an insulating air space and caught what rain 
fell through the smoke hole. The outside cover, usually replaced each 
spring, was frequently decorated from top to bottom. As it dried it 
became translucent so that, in fair weather, the inside was illuminated; 
and early white travelers who came upon a village at night were 
impressed by the many luminous cones in the darkness of prairie river 
valleys.

The old Sioux tipi were cut so that they had a longer slope in front than 
in back. Those of the Crow Indians were high narrow cones. Others had 
a squat appearance. The cut of the smoke flaps, the length of poles 
extending above the apex, and the style of designs painted on the cover, 
varied from tribe to tribe.

The tipi, or teepee, is an ideal portable home, cool in summer and warm 
in winter. On a hot day the bottom of the cover can be raised to let a 
breeze blow through the shaded interior. In winter the heat from a small 
central fire is reflected from the slanting sides and keeps it warm. Truly, 
it is a Home of the Hunters.