What materials were used in making a teepee?

Answer 1

The teepee (also tepee or tipi) was a shelter or hut made by Native Americans. The teepee consisted of a wooden frame of three or more wooden stakes, arranged in a circle and joined at their tops to form a cone shape. The frame was covered with animal skins, usually deer but in some cases buffalo (bison) or other hides.

Answer 2

First the materials were gathered. These were buffalo cow hides (anything from 6 to 20 or more, the number depending on the size of the finished lodge) and sinew for sewing, buffalo brain, a fleshing tool and water for treating the hides, about 12 to 18 poles of lodgepole pine and around ten wooden pegs pointed at both ends to fasten the cover.

Among the Blackfoot an experienced older woman acted as a kind of foreman in making the lodge cover, with other women assisting her. She laid out the brain-tanned and cleaned hides on the ground and told her assistants where to cut and sew using sinew thread - afterwards she gave a feast to reward them. Covers had to be replaced about every two years, the old ones sometimes being cut up to make moccasin soles.

A woman would bring the freshly-cut lodge poles into camp and announce that any men who helped to peel and thin them could have a feast of berry soup. The men would stab their metal knives into a fat stick and this tool was then used in both hands as a "draw knife" to peel and shave the poles.

Most lodge covers were undecorated, but the tipi of a chief or Holy man might be painted with specific designs or have buffalo tails sewn on in patterns.

In order to put up the tipi, women worked together as a team and each one knew exactly what to do. First, either three or four poles (depending on the tribe) were tied together near the tops and these were erected as a supporting framework - all the other poles were simply laid in turn against this frame. The final pole would have the top of the cover attached, so it simply needed to be drawn around the entire structure before being pinned together down the front.

In winter the lower edge of the cover might be weighted with rocks, or tent pegs might be used to hold it down.

Two additional, thinner poles were used to adjust the smoke flaps so that the wind did not blow smoke back inside.

Answer 3

First the materials were gathered. These were buffalo cow hides (anything from 6 to 20 or more, the number depending on the size of the finished lodge) and sinew for sewing, buffalo brain, a fleshing tool and water for treating the hides, about 12 to 18 poles of lodgepole pine and around ten wooden pegs pointed at both ends to fasten the cover.

Among the Blackfoot an experienced older woman acted as a kind of foreman in making the lodge cover, with other women assisting her. She laid out the brain-tanned and cleaned hides on the ground and told her assistants where to cut and sew using sinew thread - afterwards she gave a feast to reward them. Covers had to be replaced about every two years, the old ones sometimes being cut up to make moccasin soles.

A woman would bring the freshly-cut lodge poles into camp and announce that any men who helped to peel and thin them could have a feast of berry soup. The men would stab their metal knives into a fat stick and this tool was then used in both hands as a "draw knife" to peel and shave the poles.

Most lodge covers were undecorated, but the tipi of a chief or Holy man might be painted with specific designs or have buffalo tails sewn on in patterns.

In order to put up the tipi, women worked together as a team and each one knew exactly what to do. First, either three or four poles (depending on the tribe) were tied together near the tops and these were erected as a supporting framework - all the other poles were simply laid in turn against this frame. The final pole would have the top of the cover attached, so it simply needed to be drawn around the entire structure before being pinned together down the front.

In winter the lower edge of the cover might be weighted with rocks, or tent pegs might be used to hold it down.

Two additional, thinner poles were used to adjust the smoke flaps so that the wind did not blow smoke back inside.

See links below for images:

Answer 4

By putting the frame poles in a cone-shaped order and then laying the buffalo skins around the sticks from bottom to top, overlapping them to drain water.

Answer 5

They used sticks and buffalo hides skin.