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.

Teepee is often confused with a wigwam. In fact, a wigwam is quite an ordinary hut. On a wooden frame, covered with hay, straw, branches, etc. Unlike the tipi, the wigwam is round in shape:

wigwams

dwelling wigwam among the American Indians, it refers to the ritual for purification and rebirth and 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 chimney provides access to Heaven and an entrance for spiritual power.

Tipi(in the Sioux language - thipi, means any dwelling) - the commonly accepted name for the traditional portable dwelling of the nomadic Great Plains Indians with a hearth located inside (in the center). This type of dwelling was also used by the hill tribes of the Far West.
The tipi is in the form of a straight or slightly inclined back cone or pyramid on a frame of poles, with a cover sewn from treated skins of bison or deer. Later, with the development of trade with Europeans, lighter canvas was more often used. At the top is a smoke hole.

The entrance to the tipi is always located on the east side, which has its own poetic explanation. "This is for this," say the Blackfoot Indians, "so that when you leave the tipi in the morning, the first thing to do is to thank the sun."

RULES OF CONDUCT IN TIPI.

Men were supposed to be in the northern part of the tipi, women in the south. In tipis, it is customary to move clockwise (according to the sun). Guests, especially those who came to the dwelling for the first time, were to be accommodated in the women's section.

Passing between the central hearth and someone else was considered indecent, since it was believed that in this way a person breaks the connection between those present and the hearth. In order to get to their place, people, if possible, had to pass behind the backs of those sitting (men to the right of the entrance, women, respectively, to the left).

It was forbidden to go behind the back of the tipi, which meant passing behind the altar, in many tribes it was believed that only the owner of the tipi had the right to go behind the altar. There were no special rituals for leaving the tipi, if a person wanted to leave - he could do it right away without unnecessary ceremonies, but then he could be punished for not participating in important meetings.

how to set up a crowe tipi

WHAT WHERE IN THE TIPI

The first tips were made from buffalo skins. They were small, since the dogs could not carry large, heavy tires of tents during migrations. With the advent of the horse, the size of the tipi increased, but from the second half of the 19th century, the Indians began to use tarpaulin for tires.

The tipi device is perfect and well thought out. Inside the dwelling, a lining was tied to the poles - a wide strip sewn from leather or fabric that reached the ground, which protected against drafts on the floor and created traction in the upper part of the tent. In large tipis, they arranged an ozan - a kind of ceiling made of leather or fabric that retained heat. It did not completely block the space above the fire - there was a way for the smoke to escape through the top. Ozan was also used as a mezzanine - for storing things.

The entrance was closed from the outside with a "door" - a piece of leather, sometimes stretched over an oval frame of rods. Inside the doorway was hung with a kind of curtain. The space in a large tipi was sometimes blocked off with skins, creating a semblance of rooms, or even a small tipi was placed inside, for example, for a young family, since the spouse; according to custom, he should not talk or even see his wife's parents. The outer cover of the tipi had two flaps at the top, which closed or unfolded depending on the wind. From below, the tire was not pressed tightly to the ground, but was attached with pegs so that there were gaps for traction. In hot weather, the pegs were taken out, and the tire was lifted up for better air circulation.

The frame of the tent was 12 or more poles, depending on the size of the tipi, plus two poles for flaps. The poles were placed on a support tripod. The rope that tied the tripod was connected to an anchor peg that stuck into the center of the floor. The hearth was arranged, slightly retreating from the center - closer to the entrance, which always looked east. The most honorable place in the tipi was opposite the entrance. An altar was arranged between this place and the hearth. The floor was covered with skins or blankets, beds and chairs were made from small poles and rods, covering them with skins. Pillows were sewn from leather, stuffed with fur or fragrant grass.

Things and food were stored in rawhide boxes and in parflashes - large leather envelopes.

Plan of the Assiniboins large tipi device:

a) hearth; b) an altar; c) men; d) male guests; e) children; f) senior wife; g) grandmother; h) female relatives and guests; i) the owner's wife; j) grandfather or uncle; k) things; l) products; m) dishes; o) meat dryer; n) firewood;

For a fire, the Indians used, in addition to wood, dry bison droppings - it burned well and gave a lot of heat.

When camp was set up, the teepee was usually arranged in a circle, leaving a passage on the east side. Tipi were assembled and disassembled by women who coped with this matter very quickly and deftly. The camp could be rolled up and ready to go in less than an hour.

When migrating, the Indians built from tipi poles peculiar horse drags - travois. Two poles were attached to the sides of the horse or on the back crosswise. At the bottom, the poles were connected by crossbars made of poles or pulled together with strips of leather, and things were placed on this frame or children and the sick were planted.

The entrance to the tipi is in the east, and at the far wall of the tipi, in the west, is the owner's place. The south side is the side of the mistress and children. North - male half. Guests of honor are usually located there.

People who are unfamiliar or who have come to the tipi for the first time do not go further than the owner’s place and therefore sit down immediately at the entrance (when entering the tipi, it is customary to move in the direction of the sun (clockwise), that is, first through the female half).

This division is explained by the fact that forces live in the north - the helpers of men, and in the south - female forces. People close to the owner, having come to visit, sit down in the north. The most honorable and respected host can give up his seat.

This is related to the meaning of the altar, that is, it is undesirable for a stranger to pass between you and the altar. When you have a lot of guests, then the newcomers pass behind the backs of those who are sitting, so as not to break their connection with the hearth.

HEART AND ALTAR

The first thing you do when you set up a tipi is to make a hearth for yourself. To do this, you find, if possible, a dozen or two stones and spread them around. If you want to make an altar for yourself, then you need to find one large flat stone, which is placed in a circle in front of the sleeping place (the place of the owner of the tipi).

The hearth should be as spacious as possible (as far as the size of the tipi allows), because then there will be fewer problems with crumbling coals and the stones heated from the hearth will be closer to the sleeping places, which means it will be warmer.

It is better not to throw cigarette butts, garbage and other shields at him, because he can be offended and very real, at least, he will stink for the whole tipuhu. And in general it is nice when the fire is clean for many reasons. It is always good to feed the hearth, not only with firewood, but he also loves porridge.

In general, if you want to be friends with fire, then you need to share something good with it too. A good fire sacrifice is a pinch of tobacco if you smoke, fragrant herb, sage or juniper. When you live in a tipi long enough, you begin to treat the fire with respect, after all, there are many good things from it, and warmth and food ...

The stone closest to the entrance is moved aside if necessary so that someone we usually write about in green can enter (and this is also useful when you are drowning with long poles or logs). In some Indian teepees, this stone was always removed.

The hearth is the center of life in the tipi.

ALTAR

It has many meanings. One of them is the place where your gifts to the fire are placed. You can put items on it that matter to you when you go to bed (this phrase caused everyone to laugh). A pipe is usually kept under the altar. This is a clean place, try to keep the surroundings clean too.

A simple camping altar is a flat stone that is placed in front of the host's place.

If you expect to live in the tipi for a long time, and therefore to communicate with all that lives in the tipi with you, then you can make yourself a large altar. It is done like this: a hill of sand is poured in front of a large altar stone (sand is cleaner than the earth, it can reflect the sun, so it suits best). Two small wooden horns are stuck along the edges, a thin stick is placed across. It can be decorated with patches of fabric, braid, the Indians preferred red and hung bird feathers and porcupine needles on it.

The altar is the gate.

Through them passes the road that connects you with invisible forces. They say there are a lot of them around.

The hill of sand symbolizes the earth.

The horns are two world trees, and the crossbar above them is the vault of heaven.

The altar stores everything that connects you with invisible forces, so talismans and objects of power are hung on it. Sage, wormwood, sweetgrass (sacred herbs of the Indians) are burned on it from time to time.

The figure below shows the arrangement of places and objects in a tipi.

This is how the places in the tips of the Indians were located. From this, the location of the rest of your decoration suggests itself. Firewood usually lies at the entrance on the male side (there was no feminism before, women were stronger and were engaged in fuel preparation, and firewood lay on the female side), and the kitchen (supplies, pots and other utensils) is located on the female half.

Things that you rarely use can be put behind the canopy. If you have a kind old woman available, and you are a real Indian, put the old woman in a wood corner (the Indians called it "old man's corner"). She will be fine there. It is believed that old people suffer from insomnia, and therefore, in cold weather, your old woman herself will throw firewood on the hearth all night. It will be warm for you and the old woman.

Cellophane in a tipuha is uncomfortable. To store food, it is better to use cloth bags hung on wooden hooks and crossbars tied between the poles on which your tipi stands, so that they hang higher above the ground and do not get damp.

If you are a rich Indian, it is more convenient to hang large bags on a wooden tripod (this is if you are a gullible Indian and are not afraid of the invasion of the Iroquois or other hungry tribes (see photo)). In the event that the mohawk is you, use other people's large bags to hang them on your tripod.

To boil water you need to hang it over the fire. To do this, you can do (or borrow a wooden tripod with a hook from a neighbor.

An option for small teepees where a tripod is inconvenient is a transverse pole tied over the hearth, as shown in the picture below. Try to make the hook hanging from this pole longer so that the rope does not burn out. Choose a rope made from natural materials, otherwise it will smoothly drain into your soup. In a large tipi, it is convenient to use such crossbeams as dryers for blankets, clothes, herbs, berries and mushrooms. By the way, blankets in the morning would also be good to dry. Regardless of the weather, inside the tipi you will sweat while you sleep, the blankets will be damp, and you will find the smell of a Mongol warrior.

Beds. Living in a tipi, sometimes you have to lie down. To protect yourself, your things and your children from dampness and rheumatism, you can build beds-beds from dry thin poles. The poles are covered with grass. Some use spruce branches for this, but they probably do not feel sorry for the trees at all. It is better to use dry last year's herbs. You can take the grass that grew on the place of the tipi, it will be trampled anyway. In cold and rainy weather, it is very pleasant to put a stone wrapped in a rag and heated in the hearth at your feet, and a thick warm squaw on the side (therapeutic set "stone + squaw"). It is inconvenient to make beds in a small tipi - you can separate the bed with a long pole, fixed to the ground with pegs and laid along the bed closer to the hearth. Then you will not stomp on blankets and sleeping bags.

The bedding used by the Indians is actually difficult to make, but something can be explained. They made it from thin willow twigs, tying them as shown in the figure below. Its thin end was hung on a tripod at a convenient height. If necessary, they took it out into the street and used it as an armchair (they admired the sunset). There is an English name "backrest". This device is very convenient to roll up and weighs little.

What is around the tipi

It is better if around your tipi there are: a forest, a river, a blue sky, green grass and good neighbors, and not tin cans, bottles and cigarette butts; and certainly not scraps and emissions of the human body or sick minds. In short, it's clean where they don't litter.
In the forest not far from the parking lot and closer to the animal trails, they chose a place where scraps and leftovers of food were taken down. Such places were called "veikan". They didn’t dig a hole under the weikan, but on the contrary, they made it on a hill so that animals and birds were not afraid to approach it.

Commercial buildings.

From long poles (you can use the valve poles of a neighbor's tipi) make yourself a dryer for blankets. It's just a big tripod with crossbars between the poles.

Protective structures.

If you don't want to lose something, do this:
From two thin poles (a neighbor's tripod is suitable for a bowler hat), tie a cross and "close" the door with it from the outside. But do not forget to go inside, otherwise your squaw will eat your condensed milk. This kind of "lock" is often used when you leave the tipi for a while. A cross at the door means that the tenants of the tipi should not be disturbed. Such a sign is widely used by those who live in a tipi (not only by the Indians who invented it).

According to tradition, the trees growing near the tipi are decorated with colorful motley patches. The Indians often hung all sorts of gifts on them to appease the forces that kept the place. As long as you live near trees, you share the land with them. You will be pleased to return to them and see them beautiful

HOW THE TIPI IS SEW.

The basis is a rectangle of fabric measuring, for example, 4.5 x 9 meters. You can make larger tipis as long as you keep the proportions.

tipi fabric

It is desirable to choose a fabric that is not loose, waterproof, light and fireproof. It can be all types of tarpaulin, double thread, glued calico, or tent fabric. The best option is of course the traditional canvas. Can use tent fabric

There is a suspicion that if all this does not burn, then it would be nice. It is better if the fabric does not stretch and does not react to heat and moisture.

It is better to sew with a thread with a harsh thread, with elements of synthetics.

If the fabric is narrow, then the rectangle is sewn from stripes. At the same time, it is desirable to overlap the seams on one side so that during rain water can flow along them. For thin fabrics, it is good to use a sail stitch. The seams can be waxed (grease with melted wax).

When the rectangle is already sewn, you can start cutting. It is most convenient to first draw a contour with chalk on a string 4.5 meters long. The end of the rope is fixed in the center of the larger side of the rectangle and a semicircle is drawn in small, like a compass (Figure A). If you do not have enough fabric, then you can immediately sew the strips not with a rectangle, but with a semicircle with steps (Figure B).

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The ratio of the sizes of the valve, fastener and entrance:

This ratio is different for different tribes, but on average it is 1:1:1 if the tipi is not too big (4-4.5 meters)

There are various options. On pattern tipi Sioux (Sioux), and on - tipi Blackfoot (Blackfoot)

valve

To regulate the draft (to cover the chimney on the leeward side), the tipi has a valve.

Tipi valves are attached differently in the forest and steppe - in a forest where there is no wind, the lower edges of the valves can hang freely or be fastened with a rope to the tire, as shown in and in the steppe, so that the wind does not tear the valve, their lower ends are usually tied rope on a free-standing pole

The shape of the tipi as a whole depends on the shape of the valves.

Wu siu valve whole cut (cut as a whole, together with the tire) in the Blackfoot are sewn to the tipi separately (sewn valve). Tipi with whole-cut flaps have a shorter back wall and therefore it is slightly tilted back and stretched upwards. Tipi with sewn-on flaps looks like a smooth cone and has more space.

Here are examples of possible flap and flap pocket patterns:

One-piece valves were usually made 20 centimeters longer and narrower. In order to expand the one-piece valve, it is necessary to sew a wedge into it, cutting the valve from the top to about half (Figure 5)

A little about the ratio of valve sizes. You should try to avoid making valves too long - when the tipi is standing, then rain will drip into the hole between them and blow out heat. A freely dangling piece of fabric should be sewn onto the bottom of the valve and the articulation of the lower end of the valve with the canvas should be strengthened with a square (Fig. 6). Again, the width of the top of the valve should be related to the size of the tipi itself. For a tipi 4.5 x 9, an elbow width with a small one is suitable. The lower part of the valve (hemmed piece) two palms wide suits many. The distance between the valves (including the tongue) is approximately 70 centimeters.

The saddle between the flaps should cover the entire strapping of the poles, but not increase the width of the flap with its size. A tongue is sewn into its middle for tying a tire. The saddle can be of various shapes, but it is in this place that the strongest stress occurs, the tongue is sewn on as firmly as possible so that it can withstand the weight of the entire tire. A rope is attached to it, which tipi is tied to a pole (attachment options in figure 7). The pockets on the upper corners of the flaps, on their outer side, are sewn no less firmly. You will insert poles into them for adjustment. Attach long ropes to the bottom corners of the flaps to pull the flaps. Instead of pockets, large holes can be made (as the Blackfoot and Crow did). Then, to the pole, retreating some distance from its end, the crossbar is tied and so it is inserted into the hole. The Indians hung scalps on the free end of the pole, and we, on mature reflection, decided that we were law-abiding Indians, and we would not do that.

Entrance

The entry height should be approximately at shoulder level, starting from the edge of the tire. And you need to cut it back 20 centimeters, which fall on the threshold. The depth of the cut is about 2 palms. Both halves are turned off with a strip of strong fabric under which a rope is inserted (see figure 8). When installing the tipi, the ends of the rope are tied so that the entrance is not too stretched. If the tire is made of coarse fabric, such as canvas, one rim is enough, without a rope.

The door can be made simple, or more confusing.

An example of a tangled door is Figure 10. It can be made either from a large hide or from a piece of fabric cut roughly to the shape of the hide. This is a trapezoidal door with a long tongue on the top, which is pinned to the cover of one of the wooden "fasteners" sticks. It is better to make the tongue as long as possible in order to hang the door higher - so it will be more convenient to recline. Another example of a tangled door is the oval willow-framed door you see on the right side of Figure 10.

On some tipis, no doors were made at all and the edges of the tire were simply wrapped one after the other.

Clasps.

Usually the holes for the fasteners are made two on each side of the tire so that the holes match up, otherwise the fabric will wrinkle. Sometimes they also make two holes on one side and one on the other. This makes it easier to pull off the tire, but the tension is weakened. The edge of the fabric with two holes is superimposed on top (no brainer).

Canopy.

The canopy is a very important thing in a tipuha. It basically keeps the heat in, the tire serves only to protect against rain and wind. It is better to make it from a dense fabric (if you are not too lazy to carry such a weight). Sometimes the canopy weighs as much as the entire tire. The space between the canopy and the tire is used for storage.

canopy straight . (Figure 12) Its height is about 150 cm. For reference, on a tipi with a diameter of 4.5 meters, about 12 meters of fabric is required per canopy. It is easy to make, but it eats up a lot of space inside the tipi. Along the upper edge, at an equal distance (about a meter), laces are tied for hanging on a rope stretched along the perimeter between the poles.

The canopy is trapezoidal. (Figure 13) Sewn from wide trapezoids. Therefore, unlike a straight canopy, it can be stretched strictly along the poles. Usually it is made of three sectors (as seen in figure 14) and in such a way that the middle sector overlaps the two extreme ones. For reference, a 5-meter tipi requires about 20 meters, and a 4.5-meter tipi requires about 18..

In any of these cases, the length of the canopy should be enough for you to wrap it at the entrance, and the more margin, the better. Try to find a light-colored fabric for the canopy so that the tipi is not dark.

Additional details

Azan - something like a visor, which is suspended above the bed so that warm air accumulates under it. Usually this is a piece of fabric in the shape of a semicircle, which, with its rounded part, is tied to a cord on which the canopy hangs. The fabric of the azan is tied with a margin so that you can plug it behind the curtain and close the gap - it will be warmer! The radius of the azan should be equal to the radius standing tipi.

Rain triangle. A small but very useful detail. During heavy rain, the draft deteriorates, so the valves need to be opened wider, but then rain will pour in. In order for the head, however, to be completely dry (sorry, the boom-shankar confused), cut out an isosceles triangle from a dense waterproof fabric, of such a size that it can cover the hearth. The triangle is tied at the top, under the chimney, to three poles.

Tipi setting.

Tipi is placed on poles. You need from 9 to 20 poles, depending on the size of the tipi. The most common number of tipi poles with a diameter of 4.5-5 meters is twelve.

When choosing a place for a tipi, make sure that there are fewer trees nearby (after rain, water drips from them on the tire for a long time), so that the place is even, so that the tipi does not stand in a hollow. Grass can not be pulled out, because it will be quickly trampled anyway.

So, you found all the poles and dragged them to the parking lot. Do not forget to clean them from the bark (so that the head does not fall) and knots (so that the tire does not tear, however).

First you need to tie a tripod - that's how the Indians did it

Further, at regular intervals, one after another, three poles are placed, starting from the eastern (door) pole, moving against the sun (counterclockwise). Then the next three poles on the other side of him, moving towards the sun. And the next two are also in the sun in the remaining gap, they are placed side by side, leaving room for the last pole with a tire (it will stand behind them).

All this time, the poles are tied in parallel for strength. This is done as follows: take the tail of the rope with which the tripod is tied, and one of your assistants, running in a circle, grabs the installed poles with a rope. In this case, a full turn is made for every three poles (and for the last two). It is more convenient to do this by twitching the rope a little when it covers the socket of the poles, then it slides to the knot with each jerk and fits closer to it.

Then the tire is tied to the last pole tightly and firmly and, moreover, so that the lower end of the pole protrudes beyond the edge of the tire by about a palm. All this economy rises and the pole is put in its place. If you have a heavy tire, it's best not to do it alone. To do this, it is better to assemble the tire with an accordion to it before raising the pole and then, when the pole is raised, two people take hold of the edges of the tire and begin to disperse, wrapping the frame around it so that the entrance is between the eastern tripod and pole number 4 in Figure 18. The tire is fastened with fasteners top down. After that, you can move the poles apart so that the fabric stretches and fits snugly around the frame.

Further along the perimeter of the tipi, ropes are tied, in the middle between each pair of poles (see figure 19). A small pebble, cone or something else round is taken, wrapped in a tire fabric, stepping back from its edge to the width of the palm and tied tightly with a rope as shown in fig. 19 . Additionally, two ties are tied on both sides of the entrance, near the poles. Now the tire is stuck to the ground with pegs.
Insert two short and light poles into the valve pockets to control them. Drive in three steps opposite the entrance a pole for pulling the valves and tie the ropes from the valves to it.

Canopy.
To begin with, a very long rope is taken. She is knitted to the poles inside the tipi (I wrote this just in case, you never know ...) at a height just below the height of the canopy.

It is better to start from a pole with a tire. A couple of sticks are slipped under each turn of the rope, these are small, but very sacred sticks, and if you do not attach any importance to them, then during the rain, booming streams of water will flow down the poles, falling with an eerie roar right onto your bed. See figure 20 for the tying method.

Then the canopy is hung, starting from the entrance and closing it with its first sector, so that the edges twitch like curtains. The bottom of the canopy is pressed down from the inside with heavy objects (stones, backpacks, tomahawks, guests, etc.)

hearth

Do not dig a hole under the hearth, otherwise you will have a pool. Surround it with large or small stones. It is best to place the hearth slightly off the center of the tipi towards the entrance. Now light the fire, if it smokes, then go back to page 1 and see how to sew a tipi correctly.
Reginald and Gladys Laubin

tipi coloring page

And here is the tipi, you live in it and you, apparently, feel good in it. And one day, going out into the street and looking around, you are seized by a vague longing - you want to do something.

Probably, nothing can be done with the environment, but the tipi tire can become completely different. This thing is quite difficult - keep in mind that most drawings sooner or later become boring if they are made ill-conceived and without any special meaning.

It seems to us that the theme of the picture on the tire should mean something for you in the first place, it's okay if others don't understand it. But in general, of course, this is a personal matter of everyone and his artistic and all other tastes. Therefore, we will not particularly burden you with our thoughts on this topic (perhaps a little), but we will try to bring as many drawings as possible - samples of how others did it.

And yet there is traditional symbolism, many details of the painting meant something else, and if you are interested in learning about this, then we can tell you something. Otherwise, all this can be easily skipped.

On the lower edge of the tire, the inhabitant of the tipi drew something symbolizing the earth, say, a strip of mountains, a prairie, stones, in general, what he sees around him. Usually it was drawn in red, the color of the earth.

The top, respectively, meant the sky, often black, bottomless color. Sitting in such a teepee, you feel yourself in the center of the painted universe, and in most cases this was enough, and the painting of the teepee stopped (such a drawing can hardly get bored, right?). However, sometimes some other drawing was applied to the tipi tire, which was an image of something unusual that happened in a person’s life or appeared to him in a dream (which, from the point of view of an Indian, is the same thing).

The Indians generally attached great importance to dreams, sometimes a dream that a person had could change the course of his life, and therefore it was natural for him to depict such an important event in his house. So if someone painted on his tipi anyhow, just like that, then somehow they would not understand him.

In the mind, undistorted by various plastic bells and whistles, there is a very strong connection between the object and its image (it was the same with pagan idols and, later, Russian icons), therefore, depicting something tipi, you are something attract. It is not for nothing that the symbolic images of guardians and helpers who appeared in a dream, usually in the form of animals with which a person had a close connection, were a frequent subject of drawings on tipi.

Painted Cheyenne Tipi Cover

It is better to start painting the tipi even before setting it up, so it will be more convenient to get to its upper part. The bottom can be painted when the tipi is already standing. Natural colors look more natural, from which the eyes do not get tired (unless, of course, you are a fan of techno music, then your eyes have not seen such horror ...).

The Indians painted tipi with colors that can be obtained in nature, so there are only a few traditional colors. But colors for them, like everything else, were full of meaning, so even when they got the opportunity to buy synthetic paints (oil or acrylic), they still chose a gamut that was understandable to them.

These are: red, yellow, white, blue or blue and black.

Red and yellow paint can be made from ocher, if it is crushed and mixed with fat, vegetable oil, or just water. If you are lucky, petrified ocher can be found near rivers, wood ocher can be taken from under aspen or pine bark (which is very difficult to do), sometimes earthy ocher is thrown away along with the earth by moles, as fortunately for us happened here in Toksovo.

Blue and white paint can be made from colored clay in the same way as red, black can be made from crushed coal, and blueberries can be used instead of blue paint. All these paints, even diluted with water, are perfectly eaten into the fabric, although the blue color easily fades in the sun.

Red is the color of Earth and Fire. This is the most sacred color, revered not only by the Indians, but also by many other peoples who connected their lives with the earth.

Yellow - this is the color of Stone, as well as Lightning, which, according to many beliefs, has a connection with stones, earth and fire.

White and blue - the color of Water or empty space - Air, transparent as water.

Black and blue colors are the Sky, the abyss.

Sometimes, in order to show the connection between sky and water, the sky was depicted in white or blue (after all, water falls from the sky). For the same reasons, water was sometimes depicted in black or blue.

Sometimes the blue color was replaced with green (when oil paints appeared, it is difficult to find green paint in nature) due to the fact that ancient peoples did not have a difference between blue and green colors. Same with navy blue and black.

As for the drawings themselves, the most important thing to understand is one thing: it is best to see the beautiful in the simple. It seems to us that this applies not only to drawings, but also to everything else that we do and what we think about in our life (wow, cart!). Do not try to fill the space too much with small details, the emptiness will only emphasize the meaning of your drawing. We can advise you not to fall for a common mistake; when you spread the tipi on the ground and make a drawing, it seems to you much larger than it actually is, do not be afraid to paint over a large area with one color - when the tipi gets up, the perspective will change and everything will look different.

It is very long and probably not necessary to describe all the details and squiggles used by the Indians, but we can describe a few common simple symbols. Most often there are various triangles - they mean mountains and, accordingly, the earth. Small circles combined with them are stones. A widespread symbol that confused Christian missionaries was the cross, meaning the four sacred directions, the four cardinal points, or heavenly bodies. Of course, all these things are generalized, there were much more symbols and their various interpretations, so do not be surprised if you come across other information in other sources (we are the source? Wow, cool!)

If you use some traditional Indian elements in the coloring of your tipi, then you too will help this culture to survive in a natural way for it.

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"Dwellings of the peoples of the world"

(66 “residential properties” selected by us, from “abylaisha” to “yaranga”)

Wall newspapers of the charitable educational project "Briefly and clearly about the most interesting" (site site) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They are delivered free of charge to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The publications of the project do not contain any advertising (only logos of the founders), politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, well illustrated. They are conceived as an information "slowdown" of students, the awakening of cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without claiming to be academically complete in the presentation of the material, publish interesting facts, illustrations, interviews with famous figures of science and culture, and thereby hope to increase the interest of schoolchildren in the educational process.

Dear friends! Our regular readers have noticed that this is not the first time we are presenting an issue related to real estate in one way or another. Recently, we discussed the very first residential buildings of the Stone Age, and also took a closer look at the "real estate" of the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons (issue). We talked about the dwellings of peoples who have long lived on the lands from Lake Onega to the shores of the Gulf of Finland (and these are Veps, Vods, Izhors, Ingermanland Finns, Tikhvin Karelians and Russians), we talked in the series “Indigenous Peoples of the Leningrad Region” (, and issues). We reviewed the most incredible and peculiar modern buildings in this issue. More than once we also wrote about holidays related to the topic: Realtor's Day in Russia (February 8); Builder's Day in Russia (second Sunday in August); World Architecture Day and World Dwelling Day (first Monday in October). This wall newspaper is a short "wall encyclopedia" of traditional dwellings of peoples from all over the world. The 66 "residential properties" we have chosen are arranged alphabetically: from "abylaisha" to "yaranga".

Abylaisha

Abylaisha is a camping yurt among the Kazakhs. Its frame consists of many poles, which are attached from above to a wooden ring - a chimney. The whole structure is covered with felt. In the past, such dwellings were used in the military campaigns of the Kazakh Khan Abylai, hence the name.

ail

Ail (“wooden yurt”) is the traditional dwelling of the Telengits, the people of the Southern Altai. Timbered hexagonal structure with an earthen floor and a high roof covered with birch bark or larch bark. There is a hearth in the middle of the earthen floor.

Arish

Arish is the summer home of the Arab population of the Persian Gulf coast, woven from palm leaf stalks. A kind of fabric pipe is installed on the roof, which provides ventilation in the house in extremely hot climates.

Balagan

Balagan is the winter dwelling of the Yakuts. Inclined walls made of thin poles coated with clay were strengthened on a log frame. The low sloping roof was covered with bark and earth. Pieces of ice were inserted into small windows. The entrance is oriented to the east and covered with a canopy. On the western side, a cattle shed was attached to the booth.

Barasti

Barasti is a common name in the Arabian Peninsula for huts woven from date palm leaves. At night, the leaves absorb excess dampness, and during the day they gradually dry out, moistening the hot air.

Barabora

Barabora is a capacious semi-dugout of the Aleuts, the indigenous population of the Aleutian Islands. The frame was made of whale bones and snags thrown ashore. The roof was insulated with grass, turf and skins. A hole was left in the roof for entry and lighting, from where they descended inside along a log with steps carved into it. Barabors were built on the hills near the coast, so that it was convenient to observe sea animals and the approach of enemies.

Bordei

Bordei is a traditional semi-dugout in Romania and Moldova, covered with a thick layer of straw or reed. Such a dwelling saved from significant temperature fluctuations during the day, as well as from strong winds. There was a hearth on the clay floor, but the bordey was heated in black: the smoke came out through a small door. This is one of the oldest types of housing in this part of Europe.

Bahareke

Bajareque is the hut of the Indians of Guatemala. The walls are made of poles and branches covered with clay. The roof is made of dry grass or straw, the floor is made of rammed soil. Bahareke are resistant to strong earthquakes that occur in Central America.

Burama

Burama is the temporary dwelling of the Bashkirs. The walls were made of logs and branches and had no windows. The gable roof was covered with bark. The earthen floor was covered with grass, branches and leaves. Inside, bunks were built from boards and a hearth with a wide chimney.

Valcaran

Valkaran (“house of whale jaws” in Chukchi) is a dwelling near the peoples of the coast of the Bering Sea (Eskimos, Aleuts and Chukchi). Semi-dugout with a frame made of large whale bones, covered with earth and turf. It had two entrances: summer - through a hole in the roof, winter - through a long semi-underground corridor.

Vardo

Vardo is a gypsy wagon, a real one-room mobile home. It has a door and windows, an oven for cooking and heating, a bed, boxes for things. Behind, under the tailgate, there is a box for storing kitchen utensils. Below, between the wheels - luggage, removable steps and even a chicken coop! The whole wagon is light enough that one horse could carry it. Vardo was finished with skillful carvings and painted with bright colors. The heyday of vardo came at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century.

Vezha

Vezha is an ancient winter dwelling of the Saami, the indigenous Finno-Ugric people of Northern Europe. The vezha was made of logs in the form of a pyramid with a smoke hole at the top. The skeleton of the vezha was covered with deer skins, and bark, brushwood and turf were laid on top and pressed down with birch poles for strength. A stone hearth was arranged in the center of the dwelling. The floor was covered with deer skins. Nearby they put "nili" - a shed on poles. By the beginning of the 20th century, many Saami living in Russia had already built huts for themselves and called them the Russian word "house".

wigwam

Tepee is the common name for the dwelling of the forest Indians of North America. Most often it is a dome-shaped hut with a hole for smoke to escape. The frame of the wigwam was made of curved thin trunks and covered with bark, reed mats, skins or pieces of cloth. Outside, the coating was additionally pressed with poles. Teepees can be either round in plan or elongated and have several smoke holes (such designs are called "long houses"). Wigwams are often erroneously called the cone-shaped dwellings of the Indians of the Great Plains - "teepee" (remember, for example, the "folk art" of Sharik from the cartoon "Winter in Prostokvashino").

Wikipedia

Wikiap is the dwelling of the Apaches and some other Indian tribes of the Southwestern United States and California. A small, crude hut covered with twigs, shrubs, thatch, or mats, often with additional pieces of cloth and blankets thrown over the top. A kind of wigwam.

sod house

The sod house has been a traditional building in Iceland since the days of the Vikings. Its design was determined by the harsh climate and the scarcity of wood. Large flat stones were laid out on the site of the future house. A wooden frame was placed on them, which was covered with turf in several layers. In one half of such a house they lived, in the other they kept livestock.

diaolou

Diaolou is a fortified high-rise building in Guangdong province in southern China. The first diaolou were built during the Ming Dynasty, when gangs of robbers were operating in southern China. In later and relatively safe times, such fortress houses were built simply following tradition.

Dugout

The dugout is one of the oldest and widespread types of insulated housing. In a number of countries, peasants lived mainly in dugouts until the late Middle Ages. A hole dug in the ground was covered with poles or logs, which were covered with earth. There was a hearth inside, and bunk beds along the walls.

igloo

An igloo is a domed Eskimo hut made of blocks of dense snow. The floor and sometimes the walls were covered with skins. To enter, a tunnel was dug in the snow. If the snow was shallow, the entrance was arranged in the wall, to which an additional corridor of snow blocks was completed. Light enters the room directly through the snowy walls, although they also made windows covered with seal guts or ice floes. Often several igloos were connected by long snowy corridors.

Izba

Izba is a log house in the forest zone of Russia. Until the 10th century, the hut looked like a semi-dugout, completed with several rows of logs. There was no door, the entrance was covered with logs and canopy. In the depths of the hut there was a hearth made of stones. The hut was heated in black. People slept on bedding on an earthen floor in the same room as the cattle. Over the centuries, the hut acquired a stove, a hole on the roof for smoke to escape, and then a chimney. Holes appeared in the walls - windows that were covered with mica plates or a bull's bladder. Over time, they began to block the hut into two parts: the upper room and the canopy. This is how the “five-wall” hut appeared.

North Russian hut

The hut in the Russian North was built on two floors. The upper floor is residential, the lower (“basement”) is economic. Servants, children, yard workers lived in the basement, there were also rooms for livestock and storage of supplies. The basement was built with blank walls, without windows and doors. An external staircase led directly to the second floor. This saved us from being covered with snow: in the North there are snowdrifts of several meters! A covered courtyard was attached to such a hut. Long cold winters forced to combine residential and outbuildings into a single whole.

Ikukwane

Ikukwane is a large domed thatched house of the Zulus (South Africa). It was built from long thin rods, tall grass, reeds. All this was intertwined and strengthened with ropes. The entrance to the hut was closed with a special shield. Travelers find that Ikukwane fits perfectly into the surrounding landscape.

Boar

Cabanya is a small hut of the indigenous population of Ecuador (a state in the north-west of South America). Its frame is woven from a vine, partially covered with clay and covered with straw. This name was also given to gazebos for recreation and technical needs, installed in resorts near beaches and pools.

Kava

Kava is a gable hut of the Orochi, an indigenous people of the Khabarovsk Territory (Russian Far East). The roof and side walls were covered with spruce bark, the smoke hole was covered with a special tire in bad weather. The entrance to the dwelling always turned to the river. The place for the hearth was covered with pebbles and fenced with wooden blocks, which were coated with clay from the inside. Wooden bunks were built along the walls.

Kazhim

Kazhim is a large community house of the Eskimos, designed for several dozen people and many years of service. At the place chosen for the house, they dug a rectangular hole, at the corners of which high thick logs were installed (the Eskimos do not have local wood, so the trees thrown ashore by the surf were used). Further, walls and a roof were erected in the form of a pyramid - from logs or whale bones. A frame covered with a transparent bubble was inserted into the hole left in the middle. The entire building was covered with earth. The roof was supported by pillars, as well as bench-beds installed along the walls in several tiers. The floor was covered with boards and mats. A narrow underground corridor was dug to enter.

Cajun

Kazhun is a stone structure traditional for Istria (a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, in the northern part of Croatia). Cylindrical cajun with a conical roof. No windows. The construction was carried out using the dry laying method (without the use of a binding solution). Initially served as a dwelling, but later began to play the role of an outbuilding.

Karamo

Karamo is a dugout of the Selkups, hunters and fishermen of the north of Western Siberia. A hole was dug at the steep bank of the river, four pillars were placed at the corners and log walls were made. The roof, also made of logs, was covered with earth. An entrance was dug from the side of the water and disguised by coastal vegetation. To prevent the dugout from flooding, the floor was made gradually rising from the entrance. It was possible to get into the dwelling only by boat, and the boat was also dragged inside. Because of such peculiar houses, the Selkups were called "earth people".

Klochan

Klochan is a domed stone hut common in the southwest of Ireland. Very thick, up to one and a half meters, the walls were laid out "dry", without a binder solution. Narrow gaps were left - windows, an entrance and a chimney. Such uncomplicated huts were built for themselves by monks leading an ascetic lifestyle, so one should not expect much comfort inside.

Kolyba

Kolyba is a summer residence of shepherds and lumberjacks, common in the mountainous regions of the Carpathians. This is a log cabin without windows with a gable roof, covered with shingles (flat chips). Along the walls there are wooden benches and shelves for things, the floor is earthen. In the middle is a hearth, the smoke comes out through a hole in the roof.

Konak

Konak is a two- or three-storey stone house found in Turkey, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania. The building, in plan resembling the letter "G", is covered with a massive tiled roof, creating a deep shadow. Each bedroom has a covered projecting balcony and a steam room. A large number of various premises satisfies all the needs of the owners, so there is no need for buildings in the yard.

Kuvaksa

Kuvaksa is a portable dwelling of the Sami during the spring-summer migrations. It has a cone-shaped frame of several poles connected by the tops, on which a cover made of deer skins, birch bark or canvas was pulled. A hearth was set up in the center. The kuwaxa is a type of plague, and also resembles the tipi of the North American Indians, but is somewhat stockier.

Kula

Kula is a fortified stone tower of two or three floors with strong walls and small loophole windows. Kulas can be found in the mountainous regions of Albania. The tradition of building such houses-fortresses is very ancient and also exists in the Caucasus, Sardinia, Corsica and Ireland.

Kuren

Kuren (from the word "smoke", which means "to smoke") - the dwelling of the Cossacks, "free troops" of the Russian kingdom in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Don, Yaik, Volga. The first Cossack settlements arose in floodplains (river reed thickets). The houses stood on piles, the walls were made of wattle, filled with earth and plastered with clay, the roof was reed with a hole for smoke to escape. The features of these first Cossack dwellings can be traced in modern kurens.

Lepa-lepa

Lepa-lepa is the boat-house of the Bajao, the people of Southeast Asia. The Bajao, "Sea Gypsies" as they are called, spend their entire lives in boats in the Coral Triangle of the Pacific - between Borneo, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. In one part of the boat they prepare food and store gear, and in the other they sleep. They go on land only to sell fish, buy rice, water and fishing gear, and bury the dead.

Mázanka

Mázanka is a practical rural house of the steppe and forest-steppe Ukraine. The hut got its name according to the ancient construction technology: a frame made of branches, insulated with a reed layer, was abundantly coated with clay mixed with straw. The walls were regularly whitewashed inside and out, which gave the house an elegant look. The four-pitched thatched roof had large overhangs so that the walls would not get wet in the rain.

Minka

Minka is the traditional dwelling of Japanese peasants, artisans and merchants. Minka was built from readily available materials: bamboo, clay, grass and straw. Instead of internal walls, sliding partitions or screens were used. This allowed the inhabitants of the house to change the location of the rooms at their discretion. The roofs were made very high so that the snow and rain immediately rolled off, and the straw did not have time to get wet.

Odag

Odag is the wedding hut of the Shors, a people living in the southeastern part of Western Siberia. Nine thin young birches with foliage were tied from above and covered with birch bark. The groom kindled a fire inside the hut with a flint and flint. The young remained in the odage for three days, after which they moved to a permanent home.

Pallazo

Pallazo is a type of dwelling in Galicia (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula). A stone wall was laid out in a circle with a diameter of 10-20 meters, leaving openings for the front door and small windows. A cone-shaped straw roof was placed on top of a wooden frame. Sometimes two rooms were arranged in large pallazos: one for living, the second for livestock. Pallazos were used as housing in Galicia until the 1970s.

Palheiro

Palheiro is a traditional farmer's house in the village of Santana in the east of Madeira. This is a small stone building with a sloping thatched roof to the ground. The houses are painted white, red and blue. Palera began to build the first colonizers of the island.

Cave

The cave is probably the most ancient natural refuge of man. In soft rocks (limestone, loess, tuff), people have long cut down artificial caves, where they equipped comfortable dwellings, sometimes entire cave cities. So, in the cave city of Eski-Kermen in the Crimea (pictured), rooms carved into the rock have hearths, chimneys, “beds”, niches for dishes and other things, water tanks, windows and doorways with traces of hinges.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the summer dwelling of Kamchadals, the people of the Kamchatka Territory, the Magadan Region and Chukotka. To protect themselves from water level drops, dwellings (like a plague) were built on high piles. Logs thrown ashore by the sea were used. The hearth was placed on a pile of pebbles. The smoke escaped through a hole in the middle of the sharp roof. Under the roof, multi-tiered poles were made for drying fish. Povarni can still be seen on the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

pueblo

Pueblo - the ancient settlements of the Pueblo Indians, a group of Indian peoples of the Southwest of the modern USA. A closed structure built of sandstone or raw brick, in the form of a fortress. The living quarters had ledges of several floors - so that the roof of the lower floor was a courtyard for the upper one. They climbed to the upper floors by ladders through holes in the roofs. In some pueblos, for example, in Taos Pueblo (a settlement of a thousand years ago), the Indians still live.

pueblito

Pueblito is a small fortified house in the northwest of the US state of New Mexico. 300 years ago they were built, as expected, by the Navajo and Pueblo tribes, who were defending themselves from the Spaniards, as well as from the Ute and Comanche tribes. The walls are made of boulders and cobblestones and held together with clay. The interiors are also covered with clay plaster. The ceilings are made of pine or juniper beams, over which rods are laid. The pueblitos were located in high places within sight of each other to allow long-distance communication.

Riga

Riga (“residential riga”) is a log house of Estonian peasants with a high thatched or thatched roof. Hay was lived and dried in the central room, heated in black. In the next room (it was called "threshing floor") they threshed and winnowed grain, stored tools and hay, and kept livestock in winter. There were still unheated rooms ("chambers"), which were used as pantries, and in warm weather as living quarters.

Rondavel

Rondavel - the round house of the Bántu peoples (southern Africa). The walls were made of stone. The cementing composition consisted of sand, earth and manure. The roof was poles made of branches, to which bundles of reeds were tied with grassy ropes.

Saklya

Sáklya is the home of the inhabitants of the mountainous areas of the Caucasus and Crimea. Usually it is a house made of stone, clay or raw brick with a flat roof and narrow windows that look like loopholes. If the sakli were located one below the other on the mountainside, the roof of the lower house could easily serve as a courtyard for the upper one. The beams of the frame were made protruding to equip cozy canopies. However, any small hut with a thatched roof can be called a sakley here.

Seneca

Senek is a “log yurt” of the Shors, the people of the southeastern part of Western Siberia. The gable roof was covered with birch bark, which was fastened on top with half-logs. The hearth was in the form of a clay pit opposite the front door. A wooden hook with a bowler hat was hung over the hearth on a transverse pole. Smoke escaped through a hole in the roof.

Tipi

Tipi is a portable dwelling of the nomadic Indians of the Great Plains of America. Tipi has the shape of a cone up to eight meters high. The frame is assembled from poles (pine - in the northern and central plains and from juniper - in the south). The tire is sewn from bison skin or canvas. Leave a smoke hole at the top. Two smoke valves regulate the smoke draft of the hearth with the help of special poles. In case of strong wind, the tipi is tied to a special peg with a belt. Teepee should not be confused with wigwam.

Tokul

Tokul is a round thatched hut of the inhabitants of Sudan (East Africa). The load-bearing parts of the walls and the conical roof are made from long trunks of mimosa. Then hoops of flexible branches are put on them and covered with straw.

Tulow

Tulou is a fortress house in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong (China). A foundation was laid out of stones in a circle or square (which made it difficult for the enemies to dig during the siege) and the lower part of the wall was built about two meters thick. Above, the wall was completed from a mixture of clay, sand and lime, which hardened in the sun. Narrow openings for loopholes were left on the upper floors. Inside the fortress there were living quarters, a well, large containers for food. In one tulou, 500 people representing one clan could live.

Trullo

Trullo is an original house with a conical roof in the Italian region of Apulia. Trullo walls are very thick, so it is cool in hot weather and not so cold in winter. The trullo is a two-tiered one, the second floor was reached by a ladder. Trulli often had several cone roofs, each with a separate room.

Tueji

Tueji is the summer home of the Udege, Orochs and Nanais, the indigenous peoples of the Far East. A gable roof covered with birch bark or cedar bark was installed over the dug pit. The sides were covered with earth. Inside, the tueji is divided into three parts: female, male and central, in which the hearth was located. Above the hearth, a platform of thin poles was installed for drying and smoking fish and meat, and a cauldron was hung for cooking.

Urasá

Urasá - the summer dwelling of the Yakuts, a cone-shaped hut made of poles, covered with birch bark. Long, poles, placed in a circle, were fastened from above with a wooden hoop. From the inside, the frame was stained reddish-brown with a decoction of alder bark. The door was made in the form of a birch bark curtain, decorated with folk patterns. For strength, the birch bark was boiled in water, then the top layer was scraped off with a knife and sewn into strips with a thin hair cord. Inside, bunks were built along the walls. There was a hearth in the middle on the earthen floor.

Fale

Fale is a hut of the inhabitants of the island nation of Samóa (South Pacific Ocean). A gable roof made of coconut palm leaves is mounted on wooden poles arranged in a circle or oval. A distinctive feature of the fale is the absence of walls. The openings between the pillars, if necessary, are hung with mats. The wooden elements of the structure are connected with ropes woven from the threads of coconut husks.

Fanza

Fanza is a type of rural dwelling in Northeast China and the Russian Far East among indigenous peoples. Rectangular building on a frame of pillars supporting a gable thatched roof. The walls were made of straw mixed with clay. Fanza had an ingenious space heating system. A chimney ran from the earthen hearth along the entire wall at floor level. The smoke, before going out into a long chimney built outside the fanza, heated the wide bunks. Hot coals from the hearth were poured onto a special elevation and used to heat water and dry clothes.

felij

Felij - the tent of the Bedouins, Arab nomads. The frame of long poles intertwined with each other is covered with a cloth woven from camel, goat or sheep wool. This fabric is so dense that it does not let rain through. During the day, the awning is raised so that the dwelling is ventilated, and at night or in strong winds, they are lowered. The felij is divided into male and female halves by a patterned fabric curtain. Each half has its own hearth. The floor is covered with mats.

Hanok

Hanok is a traditional Korean house with clay walls and a thatched or tiled roof. Its peculiarity is the heating system: pipes are laid under the floor, through which hot air from the hearth is carried throughout the house. The ideal place for hanok is this: behind the house there is a hill, and in front of the house a stream flows.

Hut

Hut is the traditional home of Ukrainians, Belarusians, southern Russians and part of the Poles. The roof, unlike the Russian hut, was made four-pitched: thatched or reed. The walls were built from half-logs, smeared with a mixture of clay, horse manure and straw, and whitewashed - both outside and inside. Shutters were made on the windows. Around the house there was a mound (a wide shop filled with clay), protecting the lower part of the wall from getting wet. The hut was divided into two parts: residential and household, separated by a passage.

Hogan

Hogan is an ancient home of the Navajo Indians, one of the largest Indian peoples in North America. A frame of poles placed at an angle of 45° to the ground was intertwined with branches and thickly coated with clay. Often, a "hallway" was attached to this simple design. The entrance was covered with a blanket. After the first railroad passed through the territory of the Navajo, the design of the hogan changed: the Indians found it very convenient to build their houses from sleepers.

chum

Chum is the common name for a conical hut made of poles covered with birch bark, felt or reindeer skins. This form of dwelling is common throughout Siberia - from the Ural Mountains to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, among the Finno-Ugric, Turkic and Mongolian peoples.

Shabono

Shabono is a collective dwelling of the Yanomámo Indians, lost in the Amazon rainforest on the border of Venezuela and Brazil. A large family (from 50 to 400 people) chooses a suitable clearing in the depths of the jungle and encloses it with pillars, to which a long roof of leaves is attached. Inside such a kind of hedge, there is an open space for chores and rituals.

hut

Shelash is the common name for the simplest shelter from the weather from any available materials: sticks, branches, grass, etc. It was probably the first man-made shelter of an ancient person. In any case, some animals, in particular, great apes, create something similar.

Chalet

Chale ("shepherd's hut") - a small rural house in the "Swiss style" in the Alps. One of the signs of a chalet is strongly protruding cornice overhangs. The walls are wooden, their lower part can be plastered or lined with stone.

marquee

A tent is a general name for a temporary light building made of fabric, leather or skins stretched on stakes and ropes. Since ancient times, tents have been used by eastern nomadic peoples. The tent (under various names) is often mentioned in the Bible.

Yurt

Yurt is the common name for a portable frame dwelling with felt covering among Turkic and Mongolian nomads. A classic yurt is easily assembled and disassembled by one family within a few hours. It is transported on a camel or horse, its felt cover protects well from temperature changes, does not let rain or wind through. Dwellings of this type are so ancient that they are recognized even in rock paintings. Yurts in a number of areas are successfully used today.

Yaodong

Yaodong is the home-cave of the Loess Plateau in the northern provinces of China. Loess is a soft, easy-to-work rock. Local residents discovered this long ago and from time immemorial dug out their dwellings right in the hillside. Inside such a house is comfortable in any weather.

Yaranga

Yaranga is a portable dwelling of some peoples of the north-east of Siberia: Chukchi, Koryaks, Evens, Yukaghirs. First, tripods of poles are set in a circle and fixed with stones. The inclined poles of the side wall are tied to the tripods. The frame of the dome is attached from above. The whole structure is covered with deer or walrus skins. Two or three poles are placed in the middle in order to support the ceiling. Yaranga is divided by canopies into several rooms. Sometimes a small “house” covered with skins is placed inside the yaranga.

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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.

National best reflect their image and lifestyle, which largely depends on the occupation of people and the climatic conditions of the environment. So, settled peoples live in semi-dugouts, nomads live in tents and huts. Hunters cover their dwellings with skins, and farmers with leaves, plant stems and earth. In previous articles, we told you about and, and today our story is dedicated to American Indians and their famous traditional dwellings – wigwam, tipi and hoganam.

Wigwam - home of North American Indians

The wigwam is the main type of Indians in North America. In fact, a wigwam is an ordinary hut on a frame, which is made of thin tree trunks and covered with branches, bark or mats. Such a structure has a domed, but not conical, shape. Very often a wigwam is confused with a tipi: let's take at least Sharik from the famous cartoon Prostokvashino, who was sure that he had drawn a wigwam on the stove. In fact, he drew a tipi, which has the shape of a cone.

According to the beliefs of the American Indians, the wigwam personified the body of the Great Spirit. The rounded shape of the dwelling symbolized the world, and a person leaving the wigwam into the world had to leave behind him everything bad and unclean. In the middle of the wigwam there was a stove with, which symbolized the world axis, connecting the earth with the sky and leading directly to the sun. It was believed that such a chimney provides access to heaven and opens the entrance to spiritual power.

It is also interesting that the presence of a hearth in a wigwam does not mean at all that the Indians cooked food there. The wigwam was intended solely for sleeping and relaxing, and all other things were done outside.

Tipi - a portable house of nomadic Indians

The tipi, which, as we have said, is often confused with the wigwam, is portable to the nomadic Indians of the Great Plains and some hill tribes of the Far West. The tipi is in the form of a pyramid or cone (slightly inclined back or straight), made in the form of a frame of poles and covered with a cloth of sewn skins of deer or bison. Depending on the size of the structure, it took from 10 to 40 animal skins to make one tipi. Later, when America established trade with Europe, tipis were often covered with lighter canvas. The slight inclination of some cone-shaped tipis made it possible to withstand the strong winds of the Great Plains.

Inside the tipi, a hearth was arranged in the center, and on top (on the “ceiling”) there was a smoke hole with two smoke valves - blades that could be adjusted using poles. The lower part of the tipi was usually equipped with an additional lining, which isolated the people inside from the flow of outside air and, thus, created quite comfortable living conditions in the cold season. However, in different Indian tribes, tipi had their own design features and were somewhat different from each other.

Surprisingly, during the pre-colonial era, tipi was transported mainly by women and dogs, and a lot of effort was spent on this due to the rather large weight of the structure. The appearance of horses not only eliminated this problem, but also made it possible to increase the dimensions of the tipi base to 5-7 m. Tipis were usually installed with the entrance to the east, but this rule was not respected if they were located in a circle.

Life in the Indian tipi proceeded according to its own special etiquette. So, women were supposed to live in the southern part of the dwelling, and men - in the north. It was necessary to move in the tipi in the direction of the sun (clockwise). Guests, especially those who came for the first time, were supposed to be in the women's section. It was considered the height of indecency to walk between the hearth and someone else, as this violated the connection of all those present with the fire. To get to his place, a person, if possible, had to move behind the backs of the people sitting. But there were no special rituals for leaving: if someone wanted to leave, then he could do it immediately and without unnecessary ceremonies.

In modern life, tipis are most often used by conservative Indian families, sacredly honoring the traditions of their ancestors, Indianists and historical reenactors. Also today, tourist tents are produced, called "teepee", the appearance of which is somewhat reminiscent of traditional Indian dwellings.

Hogan - home of the Navajo Indians

Hogan is another type of American Indian most common among the Navajo people. The traditional hogan has a conical shape and a round base, but square hogans can also be found today. As a rule, the door of the hogan is arranged on its eastern side, since the Indians are sure that when entering through such a door, the sun will certainly bring good luck to the house.

The Navajo believed that the first hogan for the first man and woman was built by the spirit Coyote with the help of beavers. The beavers gave Coyote logs and taught him how. Today such a hogan is called "male hogan" or "hogan with a fork pole", and its appearance resembles a pentagonal pyramid. Often outside, the five-sided shape of the house is hidden behind thick earthen walls that protect the building from winter weather. In front of such a hogan is a vestibule. "Male hogans" are used primarily for private or religious ceremonies.

Navajos were used as housing "women's" or round hogans also called "family houses". Such dwellings were somewhat larger than the "male hogans" and did not have a vestibule. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Navajo Indians built their hogans in accordance with the described method, but then they began to build hexagonal and octagonal houses. According to one version, such changes were associated with the advent of the railway. When wooden sleepers fell into the hands of the Indians, which had to be laid horizontally, they began to build spacious and high with additional rooms, but at the same time retained the shape of the “female” hogan.

It is also curious that the Indians had numerous beliefs associated with the Hogan. For example, one could not continue to live in a hogan on which a bear was rubbing, or near which lightning struck. And if someone died in the hogan, then the body was immured inside and burned along with it, or they carried it out through the northern hole punched in the wall, and the hogan was left forever. Moreover, the wood of abandoned hogans has never been reused for any purpose.

In addition to hogans, underground, summer houses and Indian steam rooms were also common among the Navajo people. Currently, some old hogans are used as ceremonial structures and some as dwellings. However, new hogans are rarely built for the purpose of further habitation.

In conclusion, I would like to say that wigwams, teepees and hogans are far from all types national houses of the american indians . There were also structures such as Vikupa, Maloka, Toldo, etc., which had both common and distinctive features with the designs described above.