A tipi (also commonly spelled “teepee”) is the ingenious shelter traditionally used by indigenous people of the North American Great Plains and Canadian Prairies. Native Americans made the tall, conical shelters from animal skins stitched together then draped over very long lodge poles, set vertically, leaning to a central point. A tipi has a smoke hole at the top, so that campfires can burn inside, and an animal-skin flap opening. Although many non-native people have associated the tipi with N