Fig. 3.
The roof is made in the same way of split poles covered with bark, the latter overlapping like shingles, so that it is water-proof. Over the fireplace is left an adjustable opening, to let out the smoke and let in light and air. The doorway is an opening in the middle of the south side, three feet by six, closed by a movable door of bark or rawhide. A double row of posts with forked ends, about four feet long and the same distance apart, are driven two feet deep into the ground around three sides of the shack on the inside, connected with lighter poles and crosspieces, then covered with smooth bark firmly tied in place. Here are spread robes and blankets for beds by night and a lounging-place by day. There should be sufficient space to move about between the bunks and the fireplace.
This kind of shack may be thatched with coarse meadow grass, instead of bark, if it is more convenient to do so. Some tribes make them partly underground for warmth in winter, and when completely covered with sods or earth the hexagon becomes a “round house.”
The greater number of Indians, however, built conical wigwams. If made of the materials I have described, it was customary to transport the rolls of bark from place to place; the poles were cut at each new camp or left in place at the old ones. Sometimes grass and rushes were braided into mats and used as coverings and carpets. The Plains Indians used buffalo hides, nicely tanned and sewed together in semicircular shape.
The skeleton of the conical teepee is made by tying three poles together near the top, and, when raised, separating them to form a tripod. Against this place in a circle as many poles as you think necessary to support your outer covering of cloth or thatch, usually twelve to fifteen. If of canvas, the covering is tied to a pole and then raised and wrapped about the framework and secured with wooden pins to within about three feet of the ground. This space is left for the entrance and covered by a movable door, which may be merely a small blanket. If you have nothing better, a quantity of dry grass will make you a warm bed.
Fig. 4.