Tipi

Tepee and teepee redirect here. For other uses, see tipi (disambiguation)
An Oglala Lakota tipi, 1891

A tipi or tepee (/ˈtiːpi/ TEE-pee) is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The loanword came into English usage from the Dakota[1] and Lakota languages.[2]

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.[3] They are also used west of the Rocky Mountains by Indigenous peoples of the Plateau such as the Yakama and the Cayuse. They are still in use in many of these communities, though now primarily for ceremonial purposes rather than daily living. Modern tipis usually have a canvas covering.[4]

Non-Native people have often stereotypically and incorrectly assumed that all Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada have at one point lived in tipis,[5] which is inaccurate, as many Native American cultures and civilizations and First Nations from other regions have used other types of dwellings (pueblos, wigwams, hogans, chickees, and longhouses).[4]

  1. ^ "English to Dakota Dictionary: As Spoken by the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate". Dakota-English Dictionary. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  2. ^ Yellowhand (November 29, 2013). "Lakota Pronunciation Glossary". WoLakota Project. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  3. ^ Lewis H. Morgan, "I have seen it in use among seven or eight Dakota sub-tribes, among the Iowas, Otoes, and Pawnees, and among the Black-feet, Crows, Assiniboines, and Crees. In 1878, I saw it in use among the Utes of Colorado. A collection of fifty of these tents, which would accommodate five hundred persons, make a picturesque appearance. Under the name of the "Sibley tent" it is now in use, with some modifications of plan, in the United States Army, for service on the plains." [A Sibley tent has one pole in the center and no flaps for guiding the smoke from the central fire.] (Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, vol. iv., p. 115.)
  4. ^ a b Laubin, Reginald; Laubin, Gladys (2012). The Indian Tipi: Its History, Construction, and Use (2 ed.). University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0806188522.
  5. ^ National Museum of the American Indian (2007). Do All Indians Live in Tipis?. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-115301-3.