The Plains Indian Tipi

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

In the old days, before the Indians obtained horses from the white man, they simply limited their tipis to a size with poles small enough for a dog to drag. During the 1800's, when the tribes had plenty of horses (and a good horse could drag eight to ten poles), large tipis were transported throughout the Plains. As the buffalo were killed and the prairie fenced in, the Indians turned to wagons. Today, tipi poles are sometimes shipped from one place to another or carried on trucks, campers or cars.

Here's a rack the Laubins rigged up with the help of a Sioux blacksmith friend. With it, they can haul a complete tipi, of the size described in this article, on top of a small coupe.

About 29 feet of half-inch galvanized iron pipe, eight T-joints, two unions and four elbows were used in the basic rack with a 6 foot long 3/8" iron rod swung on a flat hinge from each side of the windshield as a brace. The bottom ends of the four uprights simply slide into sockets of 3/4" pipe fastened to the inside of the vertical sections on the front and back bumpers.

The only joker is the fact that the Laubins' car happened to be one of those sturdy old gentlemen of 1940ish vintage: You know, the kind with big, rugged, honest bumpers that really stick out in the breeze. If your automobile is one of today's sleek, streamlined monsters with the recessed, tinfoil articles front and rear, you'll obviously have to come up with another system . . . but the sketch should give you some ideas.

The Laubins load their tipi poles with butt ends forward and sticking over the front rack just a few inches. The long, slender top ends of the poles are allowed to protrude, maybe, 5-6 feet. This brings the tail end of the load just over the front of a small trailer they sometimes pull. If you make a rig like this and don't pull a trailer, remember to hang a red flag or two on the tips of the poles.

Cover, liner stakes and all the rest can be bundled up and carried on top of the "raft", if you like. Design your rack so the load just clears the car top and put some kind of a pad between the roof and the poles. Lash everything down securely.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print