A home from the Apache tribe.

Apache Home

A home from the Apache tribe.

A missionary in a long black robe addresses a group of seated Native Americans. The setting is a collection of Plains Indian teepees, although the surroundings are forested.

Missionary Addressing Native Americans

A missionary in a long black robe addresses a group of seated Native Americans. The setting is a collection…

A tipi (also teepee, tepee) is a conical tent originally made of animal skins or birch bark and popularized by the Native Americans of the Great Plains. Tipis are stereotypically associated with Native Americans in general, but Native Americans from places other than the Great Plains used different types of dwellings. The term wigwam is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a dwelling of this type. The tipi was durable, provided warmth and comfort in winter, was dry during heavy rains, and was cool in the heat of summer. Tipis could be disassembled and packed away quickly when a tribe decided to move, and could be reconstructed quickly when the tribe settled in a new area. This portability was important to those Plains Indians who had a nomadic lifestyle.

Teepee

A tipi (also teepee, tepee) is a conical tent originally made of animal skins or birch bark and popularized…

A Native American wampum belt

Wampum

A Native American wampum belt

A Native American boring wampum

Wampum Making

A Native American boring wampum

A woman and a dog standing outside a wigwam.

Woman at Wigwam

A woman and a dog standing outside a wigwam.