A teepee is a cone-shaped tent form, created to function as a mobile home. Modern teepees are normally built from canvas, but earlier they were mostly built from animal skins or birch bark. It is deeply associated with the Native Americans who were the main users of this type of housing, they were convenient because they could be easily put together and taken down when a clan was ready to move again to a new area. Even though teepees are made small, they are known to be very robust and can also withstand almost any weather such as cold, strong winds, and torrential rains. Teepees provide warmth in the cold seasons, as well as coolness in the summer. Unlike other tents, people can start fires from inside the teepee as a way of keeping warm or cooking food because it was built to be self-ventilating. To get a basic concept of how teepees look and are structured, this piece will talk about how to build a simple teepee yourself from start to finish.
Required tools:
knife or razor
Needle
Thread
Required materials:
Canvas
Wire
12 poles
wooden pegs
Stick
The instructions are as follows:
1. The first instruction will be to cut out the canvas that will be used for the teepee. Shape the canvas into a half circle with a sharp razor or utility knife so that it is twice as long as it is wide. It is recommended to make it 15 by 30 feet and cut two smoke flaps in the center of the canvas.
2. Now cut a semicircular doorway that opens on each side of the canvas so that when the edges meet they form a circular doorway. Now use an extra circular piece of canvas to build the gate and fold a pocket into it and place a heavy stick that will hold the gate closed and hem it over the teepee canvas.
3. Build three small pockets in the corners of one part of the canvas. Use the needle and thread to sew them to the tip of the smoke flaps. Use an extra piece of tarp to reinforce the areas of the smoke flaps where there is a high amount of stress.
4. Hem a rope hem over the rounded base at the bottom of the canvas. Then place evenly spaced loops of rope around it firmly to nail down the teepee. Now attach a string to the top to tie the top to the poles when the teepee is upright.
5. The 12 teepee poles must be no less than 3 feet in length than the width of the top section of the teepee. So for example, if the top is 15 feet wide, the posts are supposed to be 18 feet long and they should be straight and smooth.
6. Take three of the strongest rods to make the tripod. Use the cable to tie the tripod together as one so that it is a little higher than the cover. Lean the rest of the poles against the tripod to create a cone-shaped design for the teepee.
7. Now pull the cover over the frame and secure them to the pinnacle with wooden dowels. Attach the bottom of the top section to the ground and move the posts to extend the cover and insert two light posts into the pockets of the smoke flaps. This is the part that will function as a chimney, creating a draft.
Tips and Warnings
*When making a teepee, 10 feet should be the minimum height to use because it is much simpler to build, less expensive to make, and much easier to maintain. However, if you want a teepee that can hold many more people at a time and is smoke free, then you should consider making it much larger.
* You can also use various types of fabric such as cotton flannel, duck down, or thick unbleached muslin.