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Blackfoot, tipi, Great Plains, c. 1900 - Photograph of Blackfoot women raising tipi.
- Tipi was the property of the woman and it was her responsibility to raise and take down the dwelling at each new location.
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| Plenty Coups House, Crow Indian Reservation, Pryor, Montana, late 19th and early 20th centuries |
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- ideal nomadic dwelling.
- women plays a central role in the creation of the Tipi. Property of the woman.
- No universal tipi form, not a perfect cone shape. (Better structure to fight wind resistance.)
- made from buffalo hide or a lightweight canvas depending on the tribe or type of travel.
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| originate in southeastern Montana. Believe in the power of dreams and visions, which allow tribal members to plot their course through the world. "Words form the basis for human action." |
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| A Crow warrior, who in the 1850's had a vision quest, known as the "chickadee story." This story entails buffalo being replaced by the "white man's spotted cattle," a storm destroying an entire forest except a singular tree, symbolic of the lodge of the Chickadee. To him, this foreshadowed the Crow way of life disappearing. He shared his vision and became Chief, with a goal to not let his disappear and rather promote cultural harmony to help his people survive in the white world. |
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| Dawes Act 1880 (Allotment Act) |
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| This act developed because the government felt threatened by the Crow's communal way of life, rather than the white man's individual lifestyle. It enabled government agents to divide the Crow tribal lands into privately owned parcels of farm land, in an attempt to divide the tribe. They developed a grid pattern to enforce land division and the Crow's convertment into farmers. It also forced the Crow our of feminine, "primitive" tipis and introduced Euro-American houses, forcing a nuclear-focused family structure. All laws were an attempt to under-mind tribal, community, and religious authority further forcing the Crow under control of the American government. |
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