The Teepee

teepee1

The teepee, a versatile and historically significant structure, has been widely associated with the Lakota Sioux in popular culture, particularly through depictions in Hollywood Westerns. However, the use of conical dwellings like the teepee extends beyond the Plains tribes to other indigenous peoples across North America, as well as to groups in northern Scandinavia and Siberia. This article explores the origins, construction, and cultural significance of the teepee, with a particular focus on its architectural features and adaptations to various environments. It also addresses misconceptions about indigenous housing styles, highlighting the diverse ways in which Native American tribes built their homes, depending on their resources and needs.

Adena Mounds of the Ohio River Valley

Adena Mound

Around 1000 BC a stocky, broad headed people migrated into the Upper Ohio Valley. Their original home was probably in the Southeast since their physical appearance was identical to that of the peoples who built the platform village at Poverty Point, LA and the shell rings on Sapelo Island. (See previous articles on those locations.) Another hint about their place of origin was that unlike their new neighbors, they knew how to make pottery. The oldest known pottery in the Western Hemisphere was found in the Savannah River Basin of Georgia. Ceramic technology spread very slowly elsewhere. It did not … Read more