Native American Home

This dwelling, the Native American tepee, appears to be cool and spacious. It was erected quickly from plentiful natural materials. The frame is long, slender saplings. The skin is large, overlapping pieces of tree bark. The bark is held in place by lashing additional saplings to the framework. The doorway is large. . . allowing good air circulation. The structure is waterproof and most of it is portable.To me, the teepee was a practical, high-tech invention of the seventeenth century. This particular tepee was erected at St Ignace in the upper peninsula of Michigan. In contrast, the early European settlers built small structures constructed of massive amounts of timber-framed logs, stone, mud and brick. Their log cabin homes were built to last for many years rather than a few seasons.