MODULE 2 Chapter 3

Module 2 Chapter 3

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Build Your Own Tipi

Hi Students!

Wouldn't it be fun to build your own tipi? It might be a problem, though, getting material to build one large enough to live in. After all, who has that many buffalo hides?

You can build a model tipi, though. Here are instructions for building one. If several students build tipis, you can put them together into an Indian village. Great idea, huh? Check out the tipis below. Click on the image you want to see.


Nez Perce Tipi	Rising Sun Nation	Pinedale, Wyoming	Saskatchewan River 1871	Tipi Frames

What You Will Need

1. A piece of heavy cardboard 12 inches in diameter.

2. A piece of manila or other heavy paper at least 23-1/2inches by 13-1/2 inches.

3. Eight sticks 14 inches long and about as big around as a pencil. They should be fairly straight, but need not be perfect. Small branches from trees or bushes work very well.

4. Pieces of white or light-colored cloth (no designs) at least 23-1/2 inches by 13-1/2 inches.

5. Yarn or string.

6. A needle large enough to sew yarn or string.

7. Fine-point felt pen to draw designs on the tipi cover.

How to Build Your Tipi

1. Cut a cardboard disk 12 inches in diameter.

2. With a pencil, punch 8 evenly-spaced holes around the disk about 1/2 inch from the edge. The holes will hold the tipi poles. (See Figure 1.)

3. Find 8 sticks for poles.

4. IF YOU WANT TO FURNISH your tipi, now is the time to do it. You will have to do it before you put it together. You will want a fireplace (near the center under the smoke flaps), some firewood, and some beds. (See Figure 2.)

5. Place one end of each stick in a hole in the cardboard disk. Cross the tipi poles about 3 inches from the top. Tie them together with yarn or string.

6. Cut a pattern for the tipi cover as shown in Figure 3. For the pattern, use heavy paper or light-weight cardboard like manila folders are made from. (You may want your teacher to make the first pattern.)

7. Using the pattern, make a tipi cover from a piece of cloth. Plain white or light-colored cloth is best (such as a worn-out bed sheet).

8. Wrap the tipi cover around the poles, bringing the edges together at the front. (See figure 4.) Use yarn or string to lace the edges together. DON'T sew all the way to the bottom, but leave flaps in front. The flaps make the doorway. At the top, DON'T sew the smoke flaps together. They fold outward to let the smoke pass out through the top of the tipi.

9. Decorate the tipi cover with Indian pictures. You might get some ideas from Module 4: Indian Rock Art---Learning To Read It. Some excellent tipi pictures can be found in the Time-Life book, The Indians (from the Old West Series).

Click on image	Click on image
Figure 1	Figure 2
Figure 3	Figure 4

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