Chapter 4-3: Tipi Basics

It has been brought to my attention that within the past few years that the number of Chapters with a Tipi has gone from only a few to almost everyone. I originally had no intention of including this subject within this book but I heard of many problems related to tipis and their raising. I hope to clarify most your questions with this subject and will do my best to discuss as many related topics about this as possible.

First Person Resource: Steve Young

If you've ever been to the Northwest Camping show held at the Minneapolis Convention Center and seen the huge Tipi in the very middle, you have this gentleman to thank for it. Steve Young has been in Boy Scouts for over 30 years. He has both the Founder's award and the Silver Beaver award. He is also a readily recognizable figure at Section Conclaves and National Order of the Arrow Conferences. As a descendent of the tribes from the Lake Huron area in Canada, he is one of the best resources I can think of for this portion of this project.

Tipi Basics: the Topics

1) The Canvas: Storage, Transport, and Terms

2) The Poles: Storage and Transport

3) Setting up a Tipi

Part 1- The Canvas; Storage, Transport, and Terms

Canvas Storage: I have never seen a tipi made from any material besides canvas, even at the powwow's I've been to. If you try and order a tipi from any of the vendors recommended in appendix B, you'll find that the only available option is canvas. Besides, hide would be FAR too expensive for most people and too heavy, as well. As most Scouters know by the time they get to the Order of the Arrow, the single most important thing you can do with canvas is to store it in a dry place. Air the canvas occasionally to prevent mold buildup as well.

Tipi Transport. There are many different ways to transport canvas, from custom made trailers to very typical enclosed Scout trailers like the one pictured in figure 1. One of the added benefits to using an enclosed trailer is that it can hold all of your materials safely and in an organized manner. For both organizational and storage purposes, a trailer is by far one of the best choices you could make.

Some terms to know

· Tipi Cover – This is the outer shell that everyone sees. When laid out flat on the ground they are basically a half circle shape. The tipi size is actually the radius of this half circle.

· Tipi Liner – (see figure 2) these typically come in three shoulder length sections and are tied on the inside of the tipi. A tipi liner is essential, not an accessory, if you wish to have fires inside for these three main reasons:

1) A liner gives you privacy. Your fire will create a shadow of the people on the inside wall of the tipi cover. A tipi liner will block your shadow from being projected on the outside skin and instead project it on the liner.

2) Having your liner on the ground and the tipi cover a foot off the ground will create a draft towards the top that will carry fire smoke up and out of the smoke flaps. In figure two on the right side, you can see between the tipi liner sections a tipi pole that goes all the way to the ground. Behind that you can see that the outside edge of the tipi is nearly a foot off of the ground. This process will also help to duct fresh air in above the seating area. You can also turn the smoke flaps on top of the tipi cover downwind so that the smoke will be carried up, out, and away.

3) They also help to keep your bedding dry during a storm.

· Tipi Doors – These are spare pieces of canvas that go over the door hole on the front of the tipi cover.

· Ground Tarps – As the name implies, these are ground cloths that help to keep out dirt and the morning dew.

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Part 2- The Poles: Storage and Transport

Tipi pole storage

The storage of your tipi poles is just as important as the storage of your canvas. However, extra care needs to be considered with the poles due to their wood composition. If they are left to lie on the ground they will start to rot out within a year. Since most of us don't have a pole barn big enough to store poles in, the next best thing is to store tipi poles in an upright fashion, standing the poles in a crotch of a tree for example, with a solid material like paver stones underneath the base to prevent them from rotting away. If you don't provide a dry base beneath the poles you will lose three to six inches of the base of your poles each year.

Transporting your Tipi Poles

Figure 3: An enclosed trailer that has ladder racks on the top is perfect for hauling tipi poles	Figure 4: In a pinch, a truck can haul Tipi poles just fine; however this could be accomplished much easier with ladder racks over the bed.

Tipi poles seem to many people to be large and unwieldy at first. I've seen many ways of transporting them and a ladder rack is without a doubt one of the easiest methods. Whether it's attached to your trailer, like in figure 3, or over the bed of a truck, this is an effective way to haul many poles at once. Trailers are the most flexible method for large groups that own many lodges because any vehicle with a hitch can haul the poles from one place to the next. For individuals or groups with only one tipi a truck with a ladder rack is a very simple solution. I've read stories of how people have moved their tipi across the continent with nothing more than a ladder rack over a small Toyota pickup truck.

Why cutting poles in half for transport is not a good idea.

1. It takes away from the appearance of your lodge when it's set up

2. It increases your set up time, as the poles that you pulled apart into two pieces for transport now have to be reassembled for set up.

3. You lose some of the strength in your poles. This may not seem like a big deal for a smaller 12 or 14 ft tipi, but it is a major problem for the larger 22-foot tipis. The people inside are depending entirely on the sturdiness of the poles to hold up the extra weight of the lodge itself and keep any bad weather conditions out.

Only three types of wood are acceptable for tipi poles.

1) Lodge Pole Pines. Found in Montana. They are by far the most widely used resource for tipi poles. Catalogs that sell tipi poles are selling Lodge Pole Pines. The only real way to get these is to order them from a catalog.

2) Tamarack. These can be found in Minnesota, though mostly in swamps and are hard to manipulate for straightening. A member of the Drum group Oyate Ota, who was interviewed for Chapter 5, has tried this option.

3) Balsam furs. Steve's recommendation. These grow straight and can be found more commonly in Minnesota.

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Part 3: Setting up a tipi

This section is taken entirely from an interview with Steve Young. I've included as many pictures of this process as possible.

· The first thing to do is find your four longest poles. Three will be used for your tripod at the start. The fourth will be used for your lift pole (the pole which your Tipi Cover is tied to), which will be put up at the very end.

· Next, you will need to get about 50 feet of rope. This is used for putting the tripod together and holding the poles together at the top.

· To figure out the distance from the bottom where you will lash your tipi tripod, start with your lift pole. Lay out your tipi cover next to your lift pole. Space it so that it is six inches to one foot up from the bottom of the lift pole and firmly tie it. Now lay your three tripod poles next to your lift pole so that the bottoms are lined up. Your tripod will be lashed just under the knot of the lift pole where your tipi cover is attached.

· Begin lashing the tripod with the 50-foot piece of rope. Only use about ¼ of the rope for the lash and leave the rest for use latter when all the poles but the lift pole are up.

	Figure 5: This is the correct method for lashing the starting tripod of a tipi. With this method the lashing must be very tight or else the tripod will slip.
	Figure 6: This is the method for lashing a tripod that is shown in the Boy Scout handbook. This is an INCORRECT lashing method in tripods used for tipi setup.

Once the lashing is complete, raise the tripod. This is easier with help, especially when working with a large tipi. The remainder of the 50-foot rope not used in the tripod lashing can also be used here to help raise your tripod.
				Figure 7
Make sure that the poles in the tripod are on top of each other. (See figure 8) if one is below the other two your tripod, and your tipi won't work. Its best to start over if this happens. Next make sure that the bases of the poles are equal width apart. For most kids, it is 12 to 15 steps. What's important is that the measurement is the same.
				Figure 8
Now you have to choose which of these three poles will be your door pole. Traditionally the door has always faced east, the direction of the rising sun. However, I have found some stories about turning the door into the opposite direction of bad weather.
Now try to visualize the tripod from figure 8 as the diagram in figure 9. If we take diagram 9 and look at it from the top, you will see Figure 10. I need to do this in order so show you the 3 different Tipi pole holding zones in figures 11, 12, and 13
		Figure 9				Figure 10
Figures 11, 12, & 10 show the three tipi pole holding zones. They extend above and below the lashing, which is shown from the colored red areas
	Figure 11		Figure 12		Figure 13

Your next step is to put four tipi poles (three for a small tipi) into each of the 2 front zones next to where the door will be		Top view of the tipi pole frame showing placement of four poles
	Figure 14		Figure 15
Notice is this picture of the tipi pole frame how each pole lies on top of the others in the nook between the tipi tripod poles		A top view of the tipi pole frame showing the addition of four more poles
	Figure 16		Figure 17
A top view diagram of the finished tipi pole frame. Notice the empty pole missing on the bottom. This is where the lift pole holding the tipi cover will go		A picture of the finished frame. Notice the missing pole on the left side where the lift pole will go
	Figure 18		Figure 19
Use the remaining portion of your 50 ft rope that was used for lashing the tripod to make several rounds where all of the poles lay inside of the tripod. Then cinch it all together.		The last pole in the Tipi set up is the lift pole that has the tipi cover attached to it
	Figure 20		Figure 21
Wrap the tipi cover around the frame made by the tipi poles		Start lacing the front of the tipi cover together
	Figure 22		Figure 23

Now go inside the teepee and begin pushing out the poles. For the larger teepees (18 ft and up) push the door poles out an extra foot. This will do two things. 1) It will give it an oval shape. 2) It will give the teepee a slight slant towards the back.		Tipi covers never use grommets for ropes. Instead, use round stones that are tied into the edge
	Figure 24		Figure 25
Stake down the tipi using the ropes shown in figure 25 and 26		Next, lay down your Ground Tarp. Then lay your tipi liners over it
	Figure 26		Figure 27
A 2^nd, thinner piece of string is now stung shoulder length across all of the tipi poles		There is no complex knot that is used from pole to pole. Just wrap the rope around the pole
	Figure 28		Figure 29
Use the liner ties to attach the liner to the bottom of the tipi poles		Finally, use the ties on the other side of the liner and tie the liner to the rope shown in figures 28 & 29
	Figure 30		Figure 31
Two extra poles will be needed to open the smoke flaps. Insert them into the cloth pockets on the back		Figure 33 shows the smoke flaps fully opened from the back
	Figure 32		Figure 33

Finished!

Once you have the concept down it can take 20 to 30 minutes to set this up and can be done with a minimum of two people

Here is some suggested reading that can help you learn more.

· The Indian Tipi, it's history, construction, and use: by Reginald and Gladys Laubin. This second edition is well illustrated with photographs, diagrams and plans. 343 pages. About $20.00

· Video: Pointy side up: by Don Strinz, the easiest way for many to understand how to set up a tipi is to see it, not read it. This video is basic, but can be a big help. Also $20.00

Introduction••Table of Contents••Tell me what you think!••Chapter 1 History••Chapter 2 Etiquette••Chapter 2 Dances••Chapter 2 Songs••Chapter 3 Outfits••Chapter 4-1 Projects••Chapter 4-2 Ribbon Shirts••Chapter 4-3 Tipi Basics••Chapter 5 Interviews••Chapter 5 Dave Larson••Chapter 5 Wally Ripplinger••Chapter 5 Oyate Ota••Chapter 5 Valerie Larson••Appendices