The Plains Indian Tipi

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Loosen the smoke flap poles so they just help hold the cover even and begin pushing the frame poles out against the cover. Do not push the poles out tightly until the cover is properly pegged down. . . but do space them out evenly to aid in locating the pegs. By the way, as soon as you're sure the tripod is placed correctly, set the three poles with a shovel . . . if you intend to set them.

The peg loops are 3/16" cord tied in a square knot around a 3/4" pebble six inches above the cover's lower edge. Tie the loose ends of the cord into another square knot, insert and twirl a peg to twist the cord tightly into a no-slip grip. Peg down the front, then the rear and - finally - both sides of the cover. Use a sledge and long iron rod to make lead holes for the pegs in hard or rocky soil.

Now push the poles tightly out against the cover (loosen the anchor rope for this, if you have to). For a permanent camp, plant all the tipi poles by loosening a few pegs, digging under a pole, twisting it into the ground, replacing the pegs and moving on around the circle. If you find the door pole is too long, as sometimes happens the first time a tipi is raised, plant it deeper or chop it off. If you chop it off, of course, it will cause no trouble next time.

Spacing the poles for the first time is the hardest part of pitching a tipi. Once you get them right, swing a cord off the center peg and measure the distance out to each one. Write the figures down and use them the next time you erect the tent. You'll also find that smoke from fires in the tipi will darken the cover everywhere but directly behind each pole . . . and you'll soon be able to line up the supports with the white stripes on the canvas. Once you've got `em, retie the anchor rope.

Set a 6 or 8 foot pole in front of the door to tie the smoke flap cords to . . . and your tipi is up. The door itself - a piece of canvas laced over a willow rod frame - is hung from the last lacing pin over the doorway.

A little study of Figure 8 will give you the basics of living year-round in your tipi. Set the smoke flaps quartering downwind under any given conditions and you should have little trouble making an inside fire draw properly. Stick up a brush windbreak and pile small logs around the bottom of the cover in the winter. This is nothing unusual for the Plains, you know: People there still stack bales of straw around the foundations of frame houses during the cold months. Roll up the tent's sides and take down the liner on still, hot summer days. And don't be too proud to cut a few boughs and lean them against the sunny side of the shelter on hot days when the wind is too gusty to raise the cover. It's all - just like sitting on the ground outside and reclining against the tent's slanting sides - fair use of the tipi.

Once the lining is hung inside and its bottom six inches turned in all around, robes, a waterproof tarp, oilcloth, burlap, old linoleum or a plywood floor can be put down inside and lapped over the liner's edge. Waterproof layers are really only needed under the beds and other items affected by dampness.

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