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Teepee
Tepee,
cone-shaped tent of animal hide once used as a dwelling
by the Plains peoples of North
America.
Long poles in a tripod were used as the framework; around
the framework, buffalo hides,
sometimes as many as 20, were stretched for enclosure.
In
size, tepees were usually about 3 m (10 ft) high and 4.5
m (15 ft) across at the ground. A flap covered the low
slit entrance to the tepee, and hide was also used as
flooring against the cold. The top, from which the poles
protruded, was open and often flapped down to serve as
a chimney for smoke from fires.
The
Native Americans often decorated the exteriors of their
tepees with designs. The tepee, moored to the ground
with pegs but readily dismantled and transported, was
most suitable as a shelter for nomadic peoples, such
as the Dakota and Blackfoot.
"Tepee,"
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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