464 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



Ave can only surmise from a few survivals and from archeolonjical 

 evidence obtained in the old sites. Some very quaint and curious in- 

 formation has recently been brought to light in the latter v^'ay. 

 What "we consider the typical mode of existence of the Plains Indians 

 is therefore only the latest phase of their mode of life and a very 

 novel and highly modified phase at that. Moreover, as we have al- 

 ready remarked, this highly modified mode of existence has com- 

 monly come to be considered as the mode of life typical not only of 

 the Plains Indians but of all Indians. The appearance, dwellings, 

 and even costume of the modern Indian of the Plains is what comes 

 to mind when anyone sa3^s "Indian." 



Physically the Plains Indians were, and are, a very fine people, 

 possessing the gift of wearing costume strikingly. This trait is 

 shared by men and women. The war bonnet of eagle feathers, worn 

 by the men and never by women (the Indian woman on the old- 

 style United States copper penny to the contrary notwithstanding) , 

 is the most picturesque headgear worn by any tribe of jjeople any- 

 where. Wlien the Treasury Department in improving the style of 

 iirt exhibited on our coinage wished to select a fine-looking Indian as 

 model for the head on the five-cent piece, they turned to a member of 

 one of these Plains tribes. 



The dwelling of these Indians was the tipi, or teepee. That this 

 structure should ever be confused with the wigwam is surprising, 

 for the two are very unlike. The tipi is a movable tent, covered with 

 skins, conical in form, with the poles of the framework jutting out 

 of the top. It forms a very tidy, serviceable, and picturesque habi- 

 tation and, furthermore, one that is quite distinctive. Tribes like 

 the Yakuts of Siberia have tents that are hemispherical, not conical, 

 and covered with felt, not skin. Tents of the Lapps and Samoyeds 

 likewise differ from the tipis for the tipi cover is cut, or "tailored," 

 in a pattern that is perfectly distinctive. I do not know of any 

 habitation in any part of the world that is really comparable to the 

 tipi. 



The tipi, exclusive of the furnishings within it, consisted of two 

 parts, a set of poles for the framework and a cover of dressed buffalo 

 hides, the latter carefully tailored and stitched together. This 

 was stretched over the poles and pegged down to the ground when 

 the structure was set up. The poles, preferably of the so-called 

 lodgepole pine, were long, slender, and elegant — long enough to pro- 

 ject eight or ten feet above the top of the tent. 



In setting up the tipi two poles were put together in the form of a 

 V and lashed at their intersection with the end of a rope, the rest of 

 which was left dangling. A third pole was then fastened to the 

 apex of the V, and the three were raised into the air to form a tripod. 



