| This book will show you how to make, use, and enjoy the best of all movable shelters, the Indian tipi or tepee. No other book I know can do that. |
| The American Indian was a strictly practical man. But he was also a born artist. As a result, his inventions are commonly as beautiful as they are serviceable. Sometimes we can make these of more durable materials, but we can never improve on the design. Among his notable contributions to civilization are his canoe, his snowshoe, his moccasin, and his tipi. And of these, the last is by no means the least admirable. The Sioux word tipi is formed of ti, meaning to dwell or live, and pi meaning used for; thus, tipi means used to live in. It is well named. |
| Other tents are hard to pitch, hot in summer, cold in winter, badly lighted, unventilated, easily blown down, and ugly to boot. The conical tent of the Plains Indians has none of these faults. It can be pitched, if necessary, by a single person. It is roomy, well ventilated at all times, cool in summer, well lighted, proof against high winds and heavy downpours, and, with its cheerful inside fire, snug in the severest winter weather. |
| Imitation is the sincerest flattery. Our soldiers, campaigning on the frozen Plains, so envied the Indian his snug tipi that they invented the Sibley tent, attempting (not very successfully) to rival it. |
| Moreover, its tilted cone, trim smoke flaps, and crown of branching poles, presenting a different silhouette from every angle, forms a shapely, stately dwelling even without decoration. Properly made, pitched, and furnished in the true Indian way, it offers all the requirements of a good home, safety, comfort, privacy-even luxury. In short, other tents are made to sell. The tipi was made to live in. |
| And what a wealth of history, legend, folklore, ceremony, tradition, song, and story haunts the Indian tent. What fateful councils have been held in it, involving such events as Custer's death and |
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