Oglala Sioux Tribe
Major: Architecture
Class of 2025
South Dakota State University acknowledges the land it occupies across South Dakota is the ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Oceti Sakowin (oh-CHEH-tee shaw-KOH-we) meaning Seven Council Fires, which is the proper name for the people referred to as Sioux. We acknowledge that before these sites were named South Dakota State University, they were called home by people of American Indian Nations indigenous to this region. The tribal alliance made up of individual bands of the Seven Council Fires is based on kinship, location and dialects: Santee-Dakota, Yankton-Nakota and Teton- Lakota. We acknowledge the sovereignty of the nine federally recognized Native Nations in South Dakota: Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Flandreau Santee, Lower Brule, Oglala, Rosebud, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Standing Rock and Yankton Sioux Tribes. As a land-grant university, it is our mission to provide access to higher education to all. We are committed to building respectful and positive relationships with indigenous communities through academic pursuits, partnerships, historical recognitions, extension programs and enrollment efforts.
On this page, you will find helpful resources exploring the Tipi, the most recognizable symbol of life on the Great Plains. Used by many Native American tribes, it is more than just a shelter. The tipi served as a dynamic home, engineered for mobility, climate, and community, reflecting the needs and values of the people who built it.
The tipi (also spelled teepee or tepee) was essential to early Native American family life. The term “tipi” is preferred by the Oceti Sakowin (People of the Seven Council Fires comprised of the commonly known “Sioux” tribes). The tipi is a practical and portable home for the nomadic people of the Great Plains, an area that spanned approximately half a billion acres, from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. Other tribes also occupied this vast area, including the Blackfeet, Crow, Shoshone, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Pawnee, Osage, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, Comanche, and Plains Apache.
European records of these conical tents date back to the early Spanish explorer, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, in the mid-1500s. Additionally, Meriwether Lewis documented the use of tipis during the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806). On April 7, 1805, after leaving Fort Mandan, Lewis recorded:
“Capt. Clark, myself, the two Interpreters, and the woman and child sleep in a tent of dressed skins. This tent is in the Indian style, formed of a number of dressed Buffaloe skins sewed together with sinues [sinews].”
Based on the remains of tipi rings, various scholars estimate that their use began roughly three to four thousand years ago. The exact origins of the tipi, however, continues to remain unclear.
“Tipestola” (tee-pay-shto-lah) is the Lakota term that refers to the dwelling with pointed tips. The two most common types of tipis are the 3-pole and 4-pole, referring to the number of tipi poles that comprise the initial tripod. The 3-pole tipi is more common among the Oceti Sakowin Nation, as they were the largest group on the Plains, but it is also used by the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Assiniboine, Kiowa, Gros Ventres of the Prairie, Plains-Cree, Pawnees, and Omaha. The preferred type of tree for the poles is lodgepole pine, especially younger ones with fewer branches, as they are easier to handle and more durable. Among the people of the Plains, the number of poles coincided with a symbolic or sacred number, with a minimum of seven poles. The three poles used in the foundation represent the language dialects of the Oceti Sakowin: Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota. Likewise, the remaining poles represent the cultural values such as courage, bravery, generosity, compassion, and wisdom. A typical tipi is shaped like a tilted cone, with the back a bit steeper than the front. The tipi is often described as an hourglass shape, accounting for both the lodging area and the poles protruding from the top. For the Plains people who slept under the stars, it symbolized, “what is sacred above is also sacred below.” The entrance faces east toward the sunrise, symbolizing a new day and new beginnings. The back of the tipi faces west, the direction where storms approach and can also reflect the idea that life can be difficult at times. The floor of the tipi is almost circular but has an egg-shaped form. Smoke flaps on the top control airflow, and the bottom of the tipi could be rolled up in the summer to allow for ventilation. The cover of the tipi was made from 6-8 bison hides sewn together while 10-12 were used for larger tipis. Bison hide is thick and heavy, providing protection from the elements and waterproofing the shelter. The connection with buffalo is significant as the buffalo not only provided food but also materials for shelter, clothing, and other essential items. When the tipi cover became worn and no longer usable, it would be repurposed into clothing, parfleches, and moccasins. Every part of the Tatanka (buffalo) was used including the sinew thread, often obtained from the hump of a buffalo, to sew the hides together. The strands of sinew and horsehair were braided to create strong rope, which was an art in itself.
