moonky] INDIA N CONGRESS A T OMAHA 1 3 5
around to the doorway ; two sets of three shorter poles each, for the back ; one pole which is fastened to the tipi covering at the back and serves to lift it upon the framework. There are also two outside poles for the flaps. As each set of poles is put in place another turn of the rope is taken around them at the cross- ing, and when all are up the loose end of the rope is wound around one of the main poles and firmly tied. The covering be- ing lifted upon the framework, the two ends are brought together in front and fastened with a row of wooden pins running upward from the door, which may be a simple hanging flap, a coyote skin, or something more elaborate. About twenty pegs fasten the edges down to the ground, grass and wild sage being used to fill in any spaces which might admit the cold air. The opening where the poles cross allows the smoke to escape. On each side of the opening is a flap, held in place by two other poles on the outside of the tipi, by means of which the draft is regulated as the wind changes.
The fire is built in a shallow hole dug in the center of the tipi. Behind and on each side of the fire are low platforms, set close against the wall of the tipi, which serve as Seats by day and beds by night. The frames are of small poles, supporting mats of willow rods, usually looped up at one end in hammock fashion, and covered with skins or blankets. Above the beds are canopies set so as to catch the stray drops which come in through the smoke-hole during rainstorms. The clear space of ground imme- diately about the fireplace, where the women attend to their cooking operations, is sometimes separated from the bed space by a border of interwoven twigs. The tipi is painted on the out- side with heraldic designs and decorated with buffalo tails, stream- ers from the poles, or similar adornments. In summer it is set up on the open prairie to escape the mosquitos. In winter it is re- moved to the shelter of the timber along the river bottom, and surrounded with a high fence or windbreak of willow branches neatly interwoven.
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