What is a wigwam? This is a typical structure made of twigs and birch bark, used as a home or shelter by Native American tribes of the northeastern cultural group, among others.
What is a wigwam?
The concept itself comes from the word used by the Abenaki tribe, and means home. It was a form of shelter used by various Indian tribes, especially those who lived in the northeast forest. What is a wigwam? This is a house, which was usually a domed building.
It reached, as a rule, 2.5-3 meters in height and about 12 meters in diameter. First, a wooden frame was made, which was then covered with other available materials, such as animal skins. The joints of the structure were firmly fastened with ropes. From the late 1700s, cloth was sometimes used to cover wigwams.
native american houses
What is a wigwam? The word was once used to describe everyone regardless of structure, location, or cultural group. In fact, the term is used to describe the semi-permanent types of shelter used by the Northeast Woodland cultural group. The word Wetu is translated as "home" in the Wampanoag tribe. The term "birch house" is also used as an alternative name for a wigwam. The word wikip is used to describe these primitive dwellings, but is common among tribes in the southwestern United States.
What is the difference between a wigwam and a tipi?
The difference between a wigwam and a teepee is that the wigwam was used by the tribes of the northeastern forest culture group, while the tipi was used by the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains. The first was a semi-permanent design, the second was completely portable. The forest tribes had access to forests and used birch bark as coverings for their shelters.
The tribes hunted buffalo and used buffalo skins as coverings for their dwellings. The wigwam took longer to build, while the teepees were easy and quick to build. Some were domed, while others were shaped like pyramid-shaped tents.
Who lived in the wigwam?
The wigwam was commonly used as a dwelling by the native Indian tribes (Wampanoag, Shawnee, Abenaki, Sauk, Fox, Pequot, Narragansett, Kickapoo, Ojibwe, and Otoe) who lived around the Great Lakes and East Coast and had access to birch bark from the forests in their territories. These designs were convenient for the tribes that were in one place for several months. The Algonquian tribes of the Northeast Indians who used wigwams lived in villages during the growing season, growing corn, squash, squash, beans, and tobacco.
During the hunting season, small family groups moved to hunting camps. When the family moved to a new place, the Indian wigwam was dismantled in such a way that the frame of the rods remained intact, and the Indians took all the covering with them. Upon returning, the house was again covered with the necessary materials. And if the frame was no longer available, it was erected again.
Indian lifestyle
Each tribe chooses the type of housing according to their lifestyle, climate, environment and natural resources that are available to them. The wigwam (a photo of similar structures is in the article) was chosen as the most suitable type of housing and house style, since it corresponded to the lifestyle of the tribes inhabiting the forest areas.
Is it possible to build a wigwam on your own?
How to make a wigwam? In fact, it is not so difficult, you will need a minimum of equipment. The main materials used to create an authentic wigwam are flexible tree branches or seedlings. To begin with, a circle is drawn on the ground, which is about 12 meters in diameter. Then, 16 holes are made evenly around the circumference to a depth of about 20-30 cm. The trunks bent into an impromptu arch are firmly fixed in the holes, thus forming a dome-shaped wigwam.
Horizontal hoops are attached to the rest of the frame with the help of hard fibers of the tree bark. Then the whole structure is covered with sheets of birch bark, forming a roof and walls. Sometimes, for additional protection of the dwelling, a layer of straw or dried grass is placed on the birch bark. Woven mats, skins, canvases and blankets were also used to cover the wigwam, if these things were available to the owners. They were held in place with ropes. The space left for the doorway is an inlet valve that allows people to enter the wigwam. And the smoke hole made from above serves as a kind of chimney for removing smoke from the fire and circulating air.
The sizes of wigwams were very different, up to 30 tribesmen could live in the largest structures at the same time. Currently, these structures are often used as a venue for traditional ceremonies. Analogues of wigwams can be found among some African peoples, the Chukchi, Evenki and Soyts.
We decided to talk about the Indians, their dwellings, customs, culture. Read informative articles on the pages of Vamvigvam. After all, if you and I love wigwams so much, then we should know everything about them!
The word "Teepee", as a rule, refers to the portable dwelling of nomadic tribes of indigenous Indians who lived on the territory of the Great Plains. However, in the language of the Sioux Indian people, the word "teepee" means absolutely any dwelling, and this type of tent is called w.i. This type of tent, like a tipi, was also used by many other tribes living in the Far West, as well as settled tribes from the South-West of the country. In some cases tipis were built in parts of the country with a lot of forests. In today's world, a tipi is often erroneously referred to as a wigwam.
Tipi is a cone, the height of which can be from 4 to 8 meters. The diameter of the dwelling at the base is from 3 to 6 meters. Traditionally, the tipi frame is assembled from long wooden poles. The main material used is the wood of coniferous trees, such as pine and juniper, depending on the time of residence of the tribe in which the tipi is built. The tipi covering, which is called a tire, was previously sewn from rawhide of animals, most often from the skin of bison. In order to make one tipi, it took from 10 to 40 animal skins, depending on the size of the dwelling.
A little later, when trade with other continents began to develop, the Indians began to use lighter material - canvas - to create tips. But both materials have their drawbacks - the fabric is flammable, and dogs really like to gnaw on the skin. Therefore, the Indians decided to change the design and combine the coating: the upper part is made of animal skin, and the lower part is made of fabric. The materials are fastened with wooden sticks, and the bottom is tied to special pegs that were driven into the ground, leaving a small gap for air circulation inside the structure.
In the upper part of the structure there is a smoke hole, which has two blades that act as smoke plugs. Thanks to these blades, the draft of smoke inside the tipi is regulated. To control these blades, either special belts or poles are used, which made it possible to stretch the valves at the lower corners. Among the Canadian Indians of the Chippewa tribe, for example, these valves were not sewn to the cover itself, so they could be rotated as you like.
Also, due to its design, the tipi can be connected to the most ordinary tent and to other tips. This results in additional space. From the junction of the main poles inside the tipi, a special belt is lowered to the ground. It is tied to pegs in the middle of the tipi and acts as an anchor to keep the tipi from collapsing due to strong winds or other bad weather. Also, an additional lining is often sewn on the bottom of the tipi, which creates more comfort. During rain, a special round ceiling can also be stretched. However, the Indians from Missouri, when it rained, put leather boats on the upper ends of the poles as an umbrella.
Each tribe has its own special tipi design, and among themselves they differ in the number of main support poles, the order in which they are connected, the shape of the tipi itself, the method of cutting cloth and skin, as well as the shape of the smoke valves and the way they are connected to the poles.
Tipi is an integral part of Indian life. The main advantage of this design is its mobility, as the tipi can be transported unassembled. Before the colonial Indians appeared on the lands, tipis were transported manually, but after the advent of horses, it became possible to transport tips with their help. At the same time, it became possible to significantly increase the size of the structure, and sometimes the diameter of the base reached 7 meters.
Traditionally, the Indians put tipis with the entrance to the east, but this rule can be neglected when the tents are in a circle. Due to the slight slope, which is provided by the design of some types of tips, tents can withstand fairly strong winds. Also, the tipi is quickly disassembled and assembled. It is thanks to these factors that this design has become very popular among the Indians.
At present, tipis are used mainly by Indian conservatives, as well as reenactors and Indianists. In many places in the US, you can buy a tourist tent with this name, which is similar in design to a tipi.
Tipi plays a huge role in the culture of the Indians. For example, the location of the tipi with the entrance to the east is due to the fact that the Indians must first of all thank the sun for the coming day in the morning. The design of the tipi uses a circle - the sacred symbol of the Indians, which also plays a rather large role, since the circle in Indian culture can mean anything, from the rising sun to the seasonal migrations of bison.
All parts of the tipi design symbolize something: for example, the floor symbolizes the earth, which can play the role of an altar. The walls are the sky, and the poles that act as a frame are the paths that lead from the earth to the world of spirits.
Despite such a small tipi, families lived in them quite comfortably, as they observed their own unique etiquette. According to this etiquette, the men were located in the northern part of the tent, and the women, respectively, in the south. You can only walk inside the structure in a clockwise direction. Guests entering the tent for the first time could only be in the women's section of the tipi.
Walking between the central hearth and the person standing in front of it was also considered shameful, because the Indians believed that this could interfere with people's communication with the hearth. In order to sit down in his place, a person had to pass behind the backs of those sitting. Some tribes believed that only the male owner of the tipi could enter behind the altar.
Most of the dwellings in the Indian camps, as a rule, were not painted. Those units that were somehow decorated were designed according to the traditions of the tribe, and often the paintings on them were traditionally stylized images of natural phenomena and representatives of the fauna.
The most common motif of the drawing was the following: a pattern representing the earth was launched along the lower edge of the tent, and a heavenly pattern, respectively, along the upper edge. In some cases, the drawings on the tipi were also of a historical nature: for example, it could be a story that happened on a hunt with the owner of the dwelling. The Indians paid quite a lot of attention to their dreams, the images of which were sometimes also depicted on the tipi cover.
The choice of colors was not rich, so some of them had a double meaning. For example, red could mean both fire and earth, while yellow could mean both lightning and stone. White flowers denoted water and air. The sky was painted in blue or black.
Tipis were decorated not only with drawings, but also with all kinds of medallions and amulets, which were made by hand in accordance with the traditions of the tribe. All sorts of trophies obtained during the hunt were also used, and a little later, women began to decorate tips with the help of beadwork.
In the next article we will talk about Indian wigwams. And you can choose a handmade tipi for your child.
Tepee (from proto-Algonquian wi·kiwa·Hmi) - dwelling of the Indians of North America.
Hut on a frame made of thin trunks, covered with matting, bark or branches. It has a domed shape, in contrast to tipis, dwellings of a conical shape.
Home of the American Indians in the rites of purification and rebirth taking place in the Great Steam Room, the wigwam represents the body of the Great Spirit. Its rounded shape personifies the world as a whole, steam is the visible image of the Great Spirit, performing a cleansing and spiritual transformation. To go out into the white light from this dark room means to leave behind everything impure. The sun dance room is also a sacred place. The pillar in its center personifies the world axis, connecting Heaven and Earth and leading to the Sun, as a symbol of the Great Spirit. The chimney provides access to Heaven and an entrance for spiritual power.
It is worth noting that in one of the moments of the cartoon "Winter in Prostokvashino" Sharik did not draw a wigwam (as he himself claimed), but a tipi.
A dwelling is a building or structure in which people live. It serves for shelter from the weather, for protection from the enemy, for sleeping, resting, raising offspring, and storing food. The local population in different regions of the world has developed its own types of traditional dwellings. For example, among nomads these are yurts, tents, wigwams, tents. In the highlands they built pallasso, chalets, and on the plains - huts, huts and huts. The national types of dwellings of the peoples of the world will be discussed in the article. In addition, from the article you will learn which buildings remain relevant at the present time and what functions they continue to perform.
Ancient traditional dwellings of the peoples of the world
People began to use housing since the time of the primitive communal system. At first it was caves, grottoes, earthen fortifications. But climate change forced them to actively develop the skill of building and strengthening their homes. In the modern sense, "dwellings" most likely arose during the Neolithic, and in the 9th century BC, stone houses appeared.
People sought to make their homes stronger and more comfortable. Now many ancient dwellings of this or that people seem completely fragile and dilapidated, but at one time they served faithfully to their owners.
So, about the dwellings of the peoples of the world and their features in more detail.
Dwellings of the peoples of the north
The conditions of the harsh northern climate influenced the features of the national structures of the peoples who lived in these conditions. The most famous dwellings of the northern peoples are the booth, chum, igloo and yaranga. They are still relevant and fully meet the requirements of the completely difficult conditions of the north.
This dwelling is remarkably adapted to harsh climatic conditions and a nomadic lifestyle. They are inhabited by peoples engaged mainly in reindeer herding: Nenets, Komi, Enets, Khanty. Many believe that the Chukchi live in the plague, but this is a delusion, they build yarangas.
Chum is a tent in the form of a cone, which is formed by high poles. This type of structure is more resistant to gusts of wind, and the conical shape of the walls allows snow to slide over their surface in winter and not accumulate.
They are covered with burlap in summer and animal skins in winter. The entrance to the chum is hung with burlap. So that neither snow nor wind gets under the lower edge of the building, snow is raked up to the base of its walls from the outside.
In the center of it, a hearth is always burning, which is used for heating the room and cooking. The temperature in the room is approximately 15 to 20 ºС. Animal skins are laid on the floor. Pillows, feather beds and blankets are sewn from sheepskins.
Chum is traditionally installed by all family members, from young to old.
- Balagan.
The traditional dwelling of the Yakuts is a booth, it is a rectangular structure made of logs with a sloping roof. It was built quite easily: they took the main logs and installed them vertically, but at an angle, and then attached many other logs of a smaller diameter. After the walls were smeared with clay. The roof was first covered with bark, and a layer of earth was poured over it.
The floor inside the dwelling was trampled sand, the temperature of which never dropped below 5 ºС.
The walls consisted of a huge number of windows, they were covered with ice before the onset of severe frosts, and in summer - with mica.
The hearth was always located to the right of the entrance, it was smeared with clay. Everyone slept on bunks, which were installed to the right of the hearth for men and to the left for women.
- Needle.
This is the housing of the Eskimos, who did not live very well, unlike the Chukchi, so they did not have the opportunity and materials to build a full-fledged dwelling. They built their houses from snow or ice blocks. The building was domed.
The main feature of the igloo device was that the entrance had to be below the floor level. This was done so that oxygen could enter the dwelling and carbon dioxide would escape, in addition, such an arrangement of the entrance made it possible to keep warm.
The walls of the igloo did not melt, but melted, and this made it possible to maintain a constant temperature in the room of about +20 ºС even in severe frosts.
- Valcaran.
This is the home of the peoples living near the coast of the Bering Sea (Aleuts, Eskimos, Chukchi). This is a semi-dugout, the frame of which consists of whale bones. Its roof is covered with earth. An interesting feature of the dwelling is that it has two entrances: winter - through a multi-meter underground corridor, summer - through the roof.
- Yaranga.
This is the home of the Chukchi, Evens, Koryaks, Yukaghirs. It is portable. Tripods made of poles were installed in a circle, inclined wooden poles were tied to them, and a dome was attached on top. The whole structure was covered with walrus or deer skins.
Several poles were placed in the middle of the room to support the ceiling. Yaranga with the help of canopies was divided into several rooms. Sometimes a small house covered with skins was placed inside it.
Dwellings of nomadic peoples
The nomadic way of life has formed a special type of dwellings of the peoples of the world who do not live settled. Here are examples of some of them.
- Yurt.
This is a typical type of building among nomads. It continues to be a traditional home in Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Altai.
This is a domed dwelling covered with skins or felt. It is based on large poles, which are installed in the form of lattices. There is always a hole on the roof of the dome for smoke to escape from the hearth. The dome shape gives it maximum stability, and the felt retains its constant microclimate inside the room, not allowing heat or frost to penetrate there.
In the center of the building is a hearth, the stones for which are always carried with them. The floor is laid with skins or boards.
Housing can be assembled or dismantled in 2 hours
The Kazakhs call a camping yurt an abylaisha. They were used in military campaigns under the Kazakh Khan Abylai, hence the name came from.
- Vardo.
This is a gypsy wagon, in fact, it is a one-room house, which is installed on wheels. There is a door, windows, a stove, a bed, drawers for linen. At the bottom of the wagon there is a luggage compartment and even a chicken coop. The wagon is very light, so one horse could handle it. Vardo received mass distribution at the end of the 19th century.
- Felij.
This is the tent of the Bedouins (Arab nomads). The frame consists of long poles intertwined with each other, it was covered with a cloth woven from camel wool, it was very dense and did not let moisture through during rain. The room was divided into male and female parts, each of them had its own hearth.
Dwellings of the peoples of our country
Russia is a multinational country, on the territory of which more than 290 peoples live. Each has its own culture, customs, and traditional forms of dwellings. Here are the brightest ones:
- Dugout.
This is one of the oldest dwellings of the peoples of our country. This is a pit dug to a depth of about 1.5 meters, the roof of which was tes, straw and a layer of earth. The wall inside was reinforced with logs, the floor was coated with clay mortar.
The disadvantages of this room were that the smoke could only escape through the door, and the room was very damp due to the proximity of groundwater. Therefore, living in a dugout was not easy. But there were also advantages, for example, it fully provided security; in it one could not be afraid of either hurricanes or fires; it maintained a constant temperature; she did not miss loud sounds; practically did not require repair and additional care; it was easy to build. It was thanks to all these advantages that the dugouts were very widely used as shelters during the Great Patriotic War.
- Hut.
The Russian hut was traditionally built from logs, with the help of an axe. The roof was double pitched. To insulate the walls, moss was placed between the logs, over time it became dense and covered all the large gaps. The walls outside were coated with clay, which was mixed with cow dung and straw. This solution insulated the walls. A stove was always installed in a Russian hut, the smoke from it came out through the window, and only starting from the 17th century did they begin to build chimneys.
- Kuren.
The name comes from the word "smoke", which means "smoke". Kuren was the traditional dwelling of the Cossacks. Their first settlements arose in floodplains (river reed thickets). The houses were built on piles, the walls were made of wattle covered with clay, the roof was made of reeds, a hole was left in it for smoke to escape.
This is the home of the Telengits (the people of Altai). It is a hexagonal structure made of logs with a high roof covered with larch bark. In villages there was always an earthen floor, and in the center - a hearth.
- Kava.
The indigenous people of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Orochs, built a kava dwelling, which looked like a gable hut. The side walls and the roof were covered with spruce bark. The entrance to the dwelling has always been from the side of the river. The place for the hearth was laid out with pebbles and fenced with wooden beams, which were coated with clay. Wooden bunks were erected against the walls.
- Cave.
This type of dwelling was built in a mountainous area composed of soft rocks (limestone, loess, tuff). In them, people cut down caves and equipped comfortable dwellings. In this way, entire cities appeared, for example, in the Crimea, the cities of Eski-Kermen, Tepe-Kermen and others. Hearths were equipped in the rooms, chimneys, niches for dishes and water, windows and doors were cut through.
Dwellings of the peoples of Ukraine
The most historically valuable and famous dwellings of the peoples of Ukraine are: mud hut, Transcarpathian hut, hut. Many of them still exist.
- Mazanka.
This is an old traditional dwelling of Ukraine, unlike the hut, it was intended for living in areas with a mild and warm climate. It was built from a wooden frame, the walls consisted of thin branches, outside they were smeared with white clay, and inside with a solution of clay mixed with reeds and straw. The roof consisted of reeds or straw. The hut house had no foundation and was not protected from moisture in any way, but served its owners for 100 years or more.
- Kolyba.
In the mountainous regions of the Carpathians, shepherds and lumberjacks built temporary summer dwellings, which were called "kolyba". This is a log cabin that had no windows. The roof was gable, and covered with flat chips. Wooden loungers and shelves for things were installed along the walls inside. There was a hearth in the middle of the dwelling.
- Hut.
This is a traditional type of dwelling among Belarusians, Ukrainians, southern Russian peoples and Poles. The roof was hipped, made of reeds or straw. The walls were built of semi-logs, coated with a mixture of horse manure and clay. The hut was whitened both outside and inside. There were shutters on the windows. The house was surrounded by a mound (a wide bench filled with clay). The hut was divided into 2 parts, separated by passages: residential and household.
Dwellings of the peoples of the Caucasus
For the peoples of the Caucasus, the traditional dwelling is the saklya. It is a one-room stone building with dirt floors and no windows. The roof was flat with a hole for smoke to escape. Sakli in the mountainous area formed entire terraces, adjoining each other, that is, the roof of one building was the floor for another. This type of structure served a defensive function.
Dwellings of the peoples of Europe
The most famous dwellings of European peoples are: trullo, palyaso, bordey, vezha, konak, kulla, chalet. Many of them still exist.
- Trullo.
This is a type of dwelling of the peoples of central and southern Italy. They were created by dry laying, that is, the stones were laid without cement or clay. And if you pull out one stone, the structure collapsed. This type of building was due to the fact that it was forbidden to build dwellings in these areas, and if inspectors came, the building could easily be destroyed.
Trullos were one-room with two windows. The roof of the building was conical.
- Pallazo.
These dwellings are characteristic of the peoples who lived in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. They were built in the highlands of Spain. They were round buildings with a cone-shaped roof. The top of the roof was covered with straw or reeds. The exit was always on the east side, the building had no windows.
- Bordei.
This is a semi-dugout of the peoples of Moldova and Romania, which was covered with a thick layer of reed or straw. This is the oldest type of housing in this part of the continent.
- Klochan.
The dwelling of the Irish, which looks like a domed hut built of stone. The masonry was used dry, without any solutions. The windows looked like narrow slits. Basically, such dwellings were built by monks who led an ascetic lifestyle.
- Vezha.
This is the traditional dwelling of the Saami (Finno-Ugric people of northern Europe). The structure was made of logs in the form of a pyramid, in which a smoke hole was left. A stone hearth was built in the center of the vezha, the floor was covered with deer skins. Nearby they built a shed on poles, which was called nili.
- Konak.
A two-story stone house built in Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia. This building in plan resembles the Russian letter G; it was covered with a tiled roof. The house had a huge number of rooms, so there was no need for outbuildings for such houses.
- Kula.
It is a fortified tower built of stone with small windows. They can be found in Albania, the Caucasus, Sardinia, Ireland, Corsica.
- Chalet.
This is a country house in the Alps. It is distinguished by protruding cornice overhangs, wooden walls, the lower part of which was plastered and lined with stone.
Indian dwellings
The most famous Indian dwelling is the wigwam. But there are also such buildings as tipi, wikiap.
- Indian wigwam.
This is the dwelling of the Indians living in the north and northeast of North America. Today, no one lives in them, but they continue to be used for various kinds of rites and initiations. It has a domed shape, consists of curved and flexible trunks. In the upper part there is a hole - for the exit of smoke. In the center of the dwelling there was a hearth, along the edges - places for rest and sleep. The entrance to the dwelling was covered with a curtain. Food was cooked outside.
- Tipi.
Home of the Indians of the Great Plains. It has a cone-shaped shape up to 8 meters high, its frame consisted of pines, it was covered with bison skins from above and strengthened at the bottom with pegs. This structure was easily assembled, disassembled and transported.
- Wikipedia.
The dwelling of the Apaches and other tribes living in the southwestern United States and California. This is a small hut covered with branches, straw, bushes. Considered a type of wigwam.
Dwellings of the peoples of Africa
The most famous dwellings of the peoples of Africa are the Rondavel and the Ikukwane.
- Rondavel.
This is the home of the Bantu people. It has a round base, a cone-shaped roof, stone walls, which are held together with a mixture of sand and manure. Inside the walls were coated with clay. The top of the roof was covered with thatch.
- Ikukwane.
This is a huge domed thatched house, which is traditional for the Zulus. Long rods, reeds, tall grass were intertwined and strengthened with ropes. The entrance was closed with special shields.
Dwellings of the peoples of Asia
The most famous dwellings in China are diaolou and tulou, in Japan - minka, in Korea - hanok.
- Diaolo.
These are multi-storey fortified houses-fortresses that have been built in southern China since the Ming Dynasty. In those days, there was an urgent need for such buildings, as gangs of bandits were operating in the territories. In a later and calmer time, such structures were built simply according to tradition.
- Tulou.
This is also a house-fortress, which was built in the form of a circle or a square. Narrow openings for loopholes were left on the upper floors. Inside such a fortress there were living quarters and a well. Up to 500-600 people could live in these fortifications.
- Minka.
This is the dwelling of Japanese peasants, which was built from improvised materials: clay, bamboo, straw, grass. The functions of the internal partitions were performed by screens. The roofs were very high so that snow or rain rolled down faster and the straw did not have time to get wet.
- Hanok.
This is a traditional Korean home. Clay walls and tiled roof. Pipes were laid under the floor, through which hot air from the hearth went throughout the house.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
wigwam- dwelling of the forest Indians of the north and northeast of North America. More often it is a small hut, 8-10 feet high, domed. But up to 25-30 people could live in large wigwams. There are also small huts (about 10 feet high) of a cone shape (type-like). Currently, wigwams are more often used as traditional ceremonial premises. This name is often transferred to the cone-shaped dwellings of the Great Plains Indians - tips, which has become an obsessive literary and colloquial cliché.
Design
The frame of the wigwam is made of curved thin flexible trunks. It is bound and covered with birch or elm bark; mats made of reeds, reeds, grass or corn wrap leaves; skins or unsewn pieces of cloth. Coverage can be combined. From above, it is additionally pressed by an outer frame, poles or tree trunks. The entrance, which is only three feet high or high enough, is covered with a curtain. On top there is a hole for the exit of smoke, covered, for example, with a piece of bark, which can be lifted with a pole. The walls of domed wigwams can be both inclined and vertical. In terms of wigwams, they are often round, but there are oval and rectangular ones. Such dwellings can be extended into a rather long oval and have several smoke holes. Such structures are called long houses.
Teepees of a conical (pyramidal) shape have frames of straight poles connected from above. Moreover, such wigwams are also not only round in plan, but also form a long structure (for example, among the Plateau tribes).
Terminology
The word "wigwam" that has become well-known is an Americanism recorded since 1628. It was taken from the Algonquian languages, possibly from the language of the eastern Abenaki - wìkəwαm or wickwam. Another explanation is from Algonquian wekou-om-ut- "in his (their) house". The term comes from Proto-Algonquian [*wi·kiwa·ʔmi], literally "their home". The various Algonquian languages have their own pronunciations of this word.
In parallel, in the United States, the term of the Algonquian tribe of the Wampanoags of Massachusetts is known - wetu (witu, wetuom), which, however, has not received such distribution in the world. During the period of its use by the settlers, it began to be pronounced as wekuwomut, and since 1666 it was supplanted by the "wigwam".
Among various Algonquian peoples
- wigwom, wìkəwαm, wickwam, wikwam- Abenaki and Massachusetts;
- wiigiwaam, Algonquin (may vary in miigiwaam with undefined prefix m- w-);
- wiquoam- Delaware;
- wiikiaami- Miami and Illinois;
- Wikuom- Mi'kmaq;
- ȣichiȣam- in language nipmuc;
- wiigiwaam, wiigwaam(abbreviated version) - Ojibwe;
- wikiwam- in the Unami language;
- ookowa- Blackfoot (no possessive subject suffix -m);
- mâhöö"o- Cheyenne (with an indefinite prefix m-, instead of a specific third person prefix w- and without the possessive suffix -m).
Other huts
In popular culture, domed dwellings and simpler huts of Indians from other regions are also called wigwams, although they all have their own national names.
Wikipedia
In the US Southwest, Apache "wigwams" that are covered with grass or pieces of cloth are called wikiaps(vicaps) ( wickiup["wɪkɪʌp]). It is also customary to call wikiaps various huts and temporary shelters covered with mats, grass or branches among various tribes of California and the Great Basin, although they have their own designations. A number of Algonquian tribes have similar names.
- mekewāp- Cree (with indefinite prefix m-, instead of a specific third person prefixa w-);
- wikiop- menominee;
- wikiyaapi- meskvoki;
- miciwāhp- montagnier (with an indefinite prefix m-, instead of a specific third person prefix w-);
- wekeab- sauks.
Also, stationary domed dwellings were used by tribes on the outskirts of the steppe: Kanza, Osage, Winnebago. Similar fixed and portable dwellings were found among the Athabaskans of Canada. Occasionally, light domed buildings were also found among the nomads of the plains (Crow, Cheyenne). A similar miniature design was even used as a wagon for children on a drag.
Cone-shaped huts covered with grass or bark were a type of dwelling in the Basin tribes: the Shoshone and the Bannock. If necessary, other nomads could also build cone-shaped huts, covering them with branches (Comanche, Assiniboine). Small huts were used in military campaigns in bad weather and to mask the fire.
Steam room
Similar small or large domed tents are also used in rites of purification and rebirth among the tribes of Woodland and the Great Plains. At the same time, a steam room is arranged (for the Lakota, the ceremony and the tent itself is called inipi- stone + tent), where the tent represents the body of the Great Spirit. Its rounded shape personifies the world as a whole, steam is the visible image of the Great Spirit, performing a cleansing and spiritual transformation. To go out into the white light from this dark room means to leave behind everything impure.
Far analogues
In the literature there is a use of the term "wigwam" for the domed dwellings of the Indians of Tierra del Fuego, which are very similar to North American, but differ in the absence of horizontal ligaments in the frame.
In the Old World, similar domed dwellings are found among the Soits, Evenks and Eskimos (Yaranga), as well as among some peoples of Africa.
see also
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Notes
Literature
- . (English) .
- Djorklund K.L. The Indians of Northeasner America. - New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1969. - P. 69-73. (English) .
An excerpt characterizing the Wigwam
Previously, after two three orders, two three phrases, marshals and adjutants galloped with congratulations and cheerful faces, declaring the corps of prisoners of war as trophies, des faisceaux de drapeaux et d "aigles ennemis, [bunches of enemy eagles and banners] and guns, and carts, and Murat he asked only for permission to send cavalry to pick up the baggage trains.So it was near Lodi, Marengo, Arcole, Jena, Austerlitz, Wagram, etc., etc. Now something strange was happening to his troops.Despite the news of the capture of the flushes, Napoleon saw that it was not the same, not at all what had been in all his previous battles. He saw that the same feeling that he experienced was experienced by all the people around him, experienced in the matter of battles. All faces were sad, all eyes avoided each other. Only Bosse could not understand the meaning of what was happening. Napoleon, after his long experience of the war, knew well what it meant in the course of eight hours, after all the efforts expended, a battle not won by the attacker. He knew that this was an almost lost battle, and that the slightest chance could now - on that tense point of hesitation on which the battle stood - destroy him and his troops.
When he went over in his imagination all this strange Russian campaign, in which not a single battle was won, in which neither banners, nor cannons, nor corps of troops were taken in two months, when he looked at the secretly sad faces of those around him and listened to reports that that the Russians are still standing, - a terrible feeling, similar to the feeling experienced in dreams, seized him, and all the unfortunate accidents that could destroy him occurred to him. The Russians could attack his left wing, they could tear his middle apart, a stray cannonball could kill him himself. All this was possible. In his previous battles, he considered only chances of success, but now countless accidents appeared to him, and he expected them all. Yes, it was like in a dream, when a villain is advancing on him, and in a dream the person swung and hit his villain with that terrible effort, which, he knows, should destroy him, and feels that his hand, powerless and soft, falls like a rag, and the horror of irresistible doom seizes the helpless man.
The news that the Russians were attacking the left flank of the French army aroused this horror in Napoleon. He sat silently on a folding chair under the barrow, his head bowed and his elbows on his knees. Berthier approached him and offered to drive along the line to see what the situation was.
- What? What are you saying? Napoleon said. - Yes, tell me to give me a horse.
He mounted and rode to Semyonovsky's.
In the slowly dispersing powder smoke throughout the space through which Napoleon rode, horses and people lay in pools of blood, singly and in heaps. Napoleon and none of his generals had ever seen such a horror, such a number of people killed in such a small area. The rumble of guns, which did not stop for ten hours in a row and exhausted the ear, gave special significance to the spectacle (like music in live pictures). Napoleon rode out to the height of Semenovsky and through the smoke he saw rows of people in uniforms of colors unusual for his eyes. These were Russians.
The Russians stood in tight ranks behind Semyonovsky and the kurgan, and their guns ceaselessly hummed and smoked along their line. There was no more fighting. There was a continuing murder, which could lead neither the Russians nor the French to anything. Napoleon stopped his horse and fell back into that thoughtfulness from which Berthier had led him; he could not stop the deed that was being done before him and around him and which was considered to be led by him and dependent on him, and for the first time this deed, due to failure, seemed to him unnecessary and terrible.
One of the generals who approached Napoleon allowed himself to suggest that he bring the old guard into action. Ney and Berthier, who were standing beside Napoleon, exchanged glances and smiled contemptuously at the general's senseless proposal.
Napoleon lowered his head and was silent for a long time.
“A huit cent lieux de France je ne ferai pas demolir ma garde, [Three thousand two hundred miles from France I can’t let my guards be defeated.] – he said and, turning his horse, rode back to Shevardin.
Kutuzov was sitting with his gray head bowed and his heavy body lowered on a bench covered with a carpet, in the very place where Pierre had seen him in the morning. He did not make any orders, but only agreed or disagreed with what was offered to him.
“Yes, yes, do it,” he replied to various proposals. “Yes, yes, go, my dear, take a look,” he turned first to one, then to another of his associates; or: “No, don’t, we’d better wait,” he said. He listened to the reports brought to him, gave orders when it was required by his subordinates; but, listening to the reports, he did not seem to be interested in the meaning of the words of what was said to him, but something else in the expression of the persons who, in the tone of speech, informed him, interested him. Through many years of military experience, he knew and understood with his senile mind that it was impossible for one person to lead hundreds of thousands of people fighting death, and he knew that the fate of the battle was decided not by the orders of the commander in chief, not by the place on which the troops stood, not by the number of guns and killed people, and that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he followed this force and led it, as far as it was in his power.
The general expression on Kutuzov's face was concentrated, calm attention and tension, barely overcoming the fatigue of a weak and old body.
At eleven o'clock in the morning news was brought to him that the fleches occupied by the French were again recaptured, but that Prince Bagration was wounded. Kutuzov gasped and shook his head.
“Go to Prince Peter Ivanovich and find out in detail what and how,” he said to one of the adjutants and after that turned to Prince Wirtemberg, who was standing behind him:
“Would it please your Highness to take command of the First Army.”
Soon after the prince's departure, so soon that he could not yet reach Semyonovsky, the prince's adjutant returned from him and reported to his lordship that the prince was asking for troops.
