The remaining poles are placed on the frame, and the cover is stretched over the poles. The cover is laced together in the front of the tipi from the ground to the smoke flaps, leaving an opening for the doorway. The final step is to secure the bottom of the cover to the ground. Today, tipis are tied down with tent pegs.
In the past, stones or sod blocks often secured the base of the cover. When the tipi was removed, the rocks were rolled off the cover and left as circular alignments, now called tipi rings. These provide the main archaeological evidence of early tipi use. Tipis are not perfectly circular. The poles on the back are usually slightly closer to the center, creating a steeper surface.
This produces a slightly tilted cone, with the steeper back side facing windward and a more gradual slope on the leeward side with the doorway. This arrangement improves stability in strong winds. The difference between the long and short axis is less than 10 percent, and the floor plan is slightly egg shaped. Tipis are, surprisingly perhaps, quite heavy. The poles for an average tipi weigh around pounds, and a hide cover adds another to pounds. When Plains Indians acquired the horse, they could travel ten to fifteen miles a day using the poles as a travois and putting portions of the cover on each travois.
Before the horse, however, dogs were the only pack animals, and it was a strenuous job for a family to move to pounds of tipi poles and cover, plus another pounds or more of bison robes, stored food, and personal possessions five or six miles a day.
Tipis have probably been used since the Middle Archaic period, about 4, years ago. Most archaeological evidence dates to the period 2, to years ago. Tipi use increased steadily over time and was probably one of the major factors that enabled more intensive and specialized use of the open Plains. Virtually all tribes in the Great Plains from Texas to southern Canada used tipis. Eastern Plains groups who lived in earth-lodge villages used them seasonally when hunting; western Plains hunting and gathering groups used them as year-round dwellings.
Tipis were ideal, adaptable dwellings for the seminomadic Plains Indians. The frames of the longhouses were made with poles which were covered with bark that was cut into rectangular slabs. A variety of different trees were used to build a longhouse, depending on the tree's strength, flexibility and resistance to decay. The roof of a typical Iroquois longhouse was rounded rather than peaked. Unlike your house, which probably has nails holding it together, a longhouse was built of wooden poles and stakes that were tied together with leather strips.
The roof was rounded, and the entire longhouse was covered in tree bark, like some of today's houses are covered in shingles or siding. A typical wigwam will take about 1 to 3 weeks to complete, depending on how much help you have and how detailed you want it to be. A wigwam is not the same as a tepee.
A wigwam is semi-permanent. When you hear the words, "Indian," or "Native American," you probably think of tipis. But, as a matter of fact, most Indians did not live in tipis. Plains Indians groups moved across the Great Plains following migrating herds of buffalo that ranged from Canada to Texas.
Plains Indians used the buffalo for many purposes, including buffalo hide coverings for their tipi homes. Dozens of long wooden poles formed the cone shape of the tipi. Many large buffalo hides, sewn together, were draped across the poles to form an enclosed tent. The hides could be rolled up on hot summer days to let cool breezes blow through the tipi. Most tipis were relatively small and could hold only four or five people comfortably. The chief's tipi, however, was much larger because tribal meetings were often held there.
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