The tipi was the primary shelter for many of the nomadic Plains Indians. The word tipi comes from the Dakota words ti (to dwell) and pi (used for). The materials used to make a tipi include bison hide, poles, pegs, pins, and rope.

Anywhere from 16 to 20 bison hides (preferably cow hides) were needed to make a tipi, which averaged around 14 feet in diameter. The hides were braintanned and smoked to a pale yellow to prevent hardening from rain. This smoking produced a beautiful, translucent glow inside the tipi and would reveal any designs that had been painted on the outside.

Lodgepole pine, which tends to be very straight and stiff, was the preferred tree to use for tipi poles. The length of the poles would vary depending on the size of the tipi. To obtain wood to make poles, tribes living on treeless plains would have to journey every several years to areas that contained lodgepole pines.

Spring was the best time to harvest wood for poles  because the flowing sap made the bark easier to peel. After the bark was peeled the poles would be dried for several weeks and then smoothed of any rough spots that may damage the bison hide covering. The significant effort put into making poles made them a valuable commodity,  and a full set could be worth two good horses. One of the worst punishments a family could endure was the destruction of their tipi poles.

Ghost Village by Jason Tako

A family tipi usually belonged to the woman and was set up, torn down, and maintained by the woman. It could be set up in around 15 minutes and taken down in 3 minutes. This was advantageous in situations when approaching enemies would force the camp to break and move quickly.

The circular shape of the tipi represented the universe, with the outside of the tipi representing the creator’s domain. The outside designs were usually the result of a dream. People would refrain from painting objects on their tipi that another person saw in a dream.

There are two main types of tipis, three pole and four pole. One of the main differences between these two types was whether the smoke flaps had pockets or holes in which the poles would be inserted into. On three-pole tipis the poles were inserted into pockets on the flaps; on four-pole tipis the poles were passed through holes on the smoke flaps. Getting the poles into or through the smoke flaps was a difficult task. Once the poles were inserted, the flaps could be easily adjusted to draw smoke out from the lodge.

Three-pole tipis tended to be sturdier thank four-pole tipis, which required exterior ropes to prevent collapsing during heavy winds. Also, on three-pole tipis the cone tilts further back.

Below is a list that shows which Plains Tribe used which type of tipi.

Tribes that used three-pole tipis included:

Sioux

Mandan

Cheyenne (both Southern and Northern)

Kiowa

Arapaho

Assiniboin

Ariakara

Pawnee

Shoshoni

Wichita

Plains Ojibwa

Plains Cree

Yakima

Oto

Ponca

Tribes that used four-pole tipis included:

Blackfeet

Crow

Flathead

Nez Perce

Ute

Comanche

Hidatsa

Sarsi

Kutenai

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