Indian Woman and the Tipi
Tipis were a way of living for the Plains Indians; they provided shelter, warmth and protection. Most think that construction of a shelter is "a mans job", but not for the Indians. The woman got the materials and constructed the tipi. Without the women to do all of this the Indians would not have shelter. There were any complicated tasks to do besides constructing the tipi, such as decorating the inside of the tipi. The Indian women were treated with a great deal of respect for building the tipi; this is unlike the European settlers who treated the women in their culture with little respect. The Indian women chose many of the men to be their wise men and chose many other men for respected jobs. Without women doing all of these jobs it would have been hard for the Indians to live. There Plains Indians were the group of Indians that used the tipis as shelter. This group included the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow, Dakota and many other. The name tipi means "used to dwell in". Though no one knows how or where these tipis were created, they were so much help for the Indians. We do know that tipis weren't in use until the 1600's, when horses became available to the Indians. Before Tipi's were available to the Plains Indians would sleep un
They chose the campsite, set up camp and took camp down. Once the old cover was rags it was time to make a new cover for a tipi. The tipi helped the Plains Indians improve their way of living and make it easier for them to hunt. When a new tipi cover was needed the woman of the family dried, scraped and cured the buffalo hides. Also this provided a cool breeze and a moderate temperature in the tipi during the warmer weather. They used pillows and cushions to make beds, each person who lived in the tipi had a certain place to sit and each spot had a meaning. It was custom that the woman of the family would provide a feast and invite other women to help her sew the hides together. When the Indians needed to move camp it was a fast move and a fast set up when they came to the next campsite. The women were the authority of the campsite. If they wanted to follow the herd of buffalo and still live they had to find a way to have a shelter and have it be portable, durable and water-resistant. They hung these bags inside the tipi. This led the Indians to have to resort to using canvas that they got from trading with the white settlers. All of this seems like a long process, but after the poles were cut and the hide was sewn it took only minutes to be built. Another way of decorating the tipi was by painting the outside of the cover. The woman made furnishings and arranged them inside.
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