What is a wigwam? This is a typical twig and birch bark structure used by Native Americans, including Native American cultural groups, as a home or refuge.
What is a wigwam?
The concept itself comes from the word used by the Abenaki tribe, and means home. It was a form of refuge used by various tribes of the Indians, especially those who lived in the northeast forest. What is a wigwam? This is a house that usually consisted of a domed structure.
It reached, as a rule, 2.5-3 meters in height and about 12 meters across. First, a wooden frame was made, which was then covered with
birch bark and other available materials, such as animal skins. The joints of the structure were firmly fastened with ropes. From the end of the 1700s, fabric was sometimes used to cover wigwams.
Native American Homes
What is a wigwam? This word was once used to describe all Native American homes regardless of structure, location or cultural group. In fact, this term is used to describe the semi-permanent types of shelters used by the cultural group of the northeastern forest. The word Wetu translates as “home” in the vampanoag tribe. The term "birch house" is also used as an alternative name for a wigwam. The word Wikip is used to describe such primitive dwellings, but is common among tribes in the southwestern United States.
What is the difference between wigwam and tipi?
The difference between a wigwam and a tipi is as follows: the wigwam was used by the tribes of the northeastern forest cultural group, while the tipi used the nomadic tribes of the Great Plains. The first was a semi-permanent structure, the second was fully portable. Forest tribes had access to forests and used birch bark as coverings for their shelters.
Tribes of the Great Plains hunted buffalo and used buffalo skins as coatings for their homes. The Wigwam needed more time to build, while the tipis were easy and quick to build. Some were domed, while others in their shape resembled pyramid-shaped tents.
Who lived in the wigwam?
Typically, the wigwam was used as a home by indigenous Indian tribes (vampanoag, shawni, abenaki, sauk, fox, pekot, narragansett, kikapu, ojibwe and otoe) that lived around the Great Lakes and the East Coast and had access to birch bark from forests in their territories. These designs were convenient for the tribes, which were in one place for several months. Algonquin tribes of the Northeast Indians who used the wigwams lived in the villages during the growing season, cultivating corn, pumpkin, zucchini, beans and tobacco.
During the hunting season, small family groups moved to hunting camps. When the family moved to a new place, the Indian wigwas were dismantled in such a way that the frame of the rods remained untouched, and the Indians took all the cover with them. Upon returning, the house was again covered with the necessary materials. And if the frame was already unavailable, it was erected again.
Native American lifestyle
Each tribe chooses the type of housing in accordance with their lifestyle, climate, environment and natural resources that are available to them. The Wigwam (photos of such structures are in the article) was chosen as the most suitable type of housing and house style, since it corresponded to the lifestyle of the tribes inhabiting the forest areas.
Can I build a wigwam on my own?
How to make a wigwam? In fact, it is not so difficult, you will need a minimum of equipment. The main materials used to create an authentic wigwam are branches of flexible trees or seedlings. To begin with, a circle is drawn on the earth, which is about 12 meters in diameter. Then, 16 holes are made evenly around the circumference to a depth of about 20-30 cm. The trunks bent into an improvised arch are firmly fixed in the holes, thus forming a domed wigwam shape.
Horizontal hoops are attached to the rest of the frame using hard fibers of the tree bark. Then the whole structure is covered with birch bark sheets, forming a roof and walls. Sometimes, for additional protection of the home, a layer of straw or dried grass is placed on the birch bark. Woven mats, skins, canvases and blankets were also covered with wigwam, if these things were available to the owners. They were held in place by ropes. The space left for the doorway is an inlet valve that allows people to enter the wigwam. And the smoke hole made from above serves as a kind of chimney for removing smoke from the fire and air circulation outside.
The sizes of the wigwams were very different; up to 30 tribesmen could simultaneously live in the largest structures. Currently, these designs are often used as a venue for traditional ceremonies. Analogs of wigwams can be found in some African nationalities, Chukchi, Evenks and Soyts.