What is the tepee? Typical dwelling for Indian tribes

What is the tepee? This is a typical construction of twigs and birch bark used by Native Americans, including Native American tribes of the northeastern cultural group, as a home or asylum.

What is the tepee?

The very concept comes from the word used by the Abenaki tribe, and means the house. It was a form of refuge used by various tribes of the Indians, especially those who lived in the northeastern forest. What is the tepee? This is a house, which was usually a dome-shaped building.

It reached, as a rule, 2.5-3 meters in height and about 12 meters in diameter. First, a wooden frame was made, which was then covered with birch bark and other available materials, such as animal skins. The joints of the structure were firmly fastened with ropes. From the late 1700s, sometimes cloth was used to cover the wigwams.

Native American Houses

What is the tepee? This word was once used to describe all Indian houses, regardless of structure, location or cultural group. In fact, this term serves to describe the semi-permanent types of shelters used by the cultural group of the northeastern forest. The word Wetu is translated as "home" in the Wampanoag tribe. The term "birch house" is also used as an alternative name for the wigwam. The word "vikip" is used to describe such primitive dwellings, but is common among tribes in the southwestern United States.

What is the difference between a tepee and a tipi?

The difference between the tepee and the tipi is as follows: the wigwam was used by the tribes of the northeastern forest cultural group, while the tipis used the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains. The first was a semi-permanent construction, the second was completely portable. Forest tribes had access to forests and used birch bark as coverings for their shelters.

The tribes of the Great Plains hunted buffalo and used buffalo skins as coverings for their homes. The wigwam required more time to build, whereas the tipi were easily and quickly erected. Some were domed, while others in their shape resembled pyramidal tents.

Who lived in the tepee?

Typically, the wigwam was used as a home by indigenous Indian tribes (vampanoag, shoni, abenaki, sauk, fox, peck, narragansett, kikapu, Ojibwe and otoe) who lived around the Great Lakes and the East Coast and had access to birch bark from forests in their territories. These structures were convenient for the tribes, who were in the same place for several months. Algonquin tribes of northeastern Indians who used wigwams lived in villages during the growing season, cultivating corn, pumpkin, zucchini, beans and tobacco.

During the hunting season, small family groups moved to hunting camps. When the family moved to a new location, the Indian wigwam was disassembled in such a way that the wire frame remained untouched, and the Indians took all the cover with them. Upon returning home, the house was again covered with the necessary materials. And if the frame was already inaccessible, it was erected again.

Indian lifestyle

Each tribe chooses the type of housing in accordance with its lifestyle, climate, environment and natural resources that are available to them. Wigwam (a photo of similar constructions is in the article) was chosen as the most suitable type of housing and style of the house, as it corresponded to the way of life of the tribes inhabiting forest areas.

Is it possible to build the wigwam yourself?

How to make a tepee? In fact, it is not so difficult, you will need a minimum of equipment. The main materials used to create an authentic wigwam are branches of flexible trees or seedlings. To begin with, a circle is drawn on the ground, which is about 12 meters in diameter. Then uniformly along the circumference, 16 holes are made to a depth of about 20-30 cm. The bunches bent into the improvised arch are firmly fixed in the holes, thus forming a domed shape of the wigwam.

Horizontal hoops are attached to the rest of the frame with hard fibers of the bark of the tree. Then the entire structure is covered with birch leaves, forming a roof and walls. Sometimes, for additional protection of the dwelling, a layer of straw or dried grass is placed on the birch bark. Woven mats, skins, canvases and blankets were also covered with wigwams, if these things were available to the owners. They were held in place by ropes. The space left for the doorway is an inlet valve that allows people to enter the wigwam. And the smoke hole made from above serves as a kind of chimney for removing smoke from the fire and circulating air.

The sizes of the wigwams were very different, in the largest buildings, up to 30 tribesmen could live at the same time. Currently, these designs are often used as a place for traditional rituals. Analogies of wigwams can be found in some African nationalities, Chukchi, Evenks and Soiths.