How to Make a Tepee

The Native American tepee (sometimes also written as tipi), made famous from the set of any number of many western movies, is often wrongly depicted as a flimsy, inadequate structure that collapses with the first puff of smoke from a rifle. Tepees are, in fact, strong and sturdy mobile shelters that can be designed to be used as either long-term dwellings or small but fun places for children to play. The tepee may look like a complicated project or seem difficult to construct because of its size, but, by following a few steps, you could easily be camping out in your own tepee this summer.

Things You'll Need

• Canvas
• Measuring tape
• 14 wooden poles
• Sewing needles (sturdy enough for using on canvas)
• Thread
• Rope
• Flexible green branches or plastic tubing
• Wooden pegs
• Metal eyes or grommets
• Tent pegs

Instructions

1. Begin with a large piece of semicircular canvas (the shape of a half circle). Measure it. The long straight edge needs to be twice as long as its width at the center of the arch. For this guide, we will use the measurements of 20 feet long by 10 feet wide, but you can use whatever size you wish, provided the proportions remain the same.

2. Measure to the center point of the straight edge and remove a small semicircular section of the canvas. This will become the point where smoke leaves your tepee from your fire.

3. Remove two larger semicircular sections from the straight edge. They need to be placed an equal distance from the outer edge of the canvas on either side of the center notch. When your tepee is erected, these two semicircles will meet to form a full circle, which will be used as an entrance.

4. Sew a hem all around the edge of an additional piece of circular-shaped canvas, larger than the space you have created for your entrance. Insert a flexible stick or plastic tube into the hem. This framed canvas will function as your door.

5. Make a rope loop and attach it to the door. Once you have erected the tepee, this loop can be hung on the pins used to hold the edges of the tepee together to function as a rope door hinge.

6. Cut two triangular-shaped pieces of canvas, approximately large enough to cover the semicircular section you made in the center of the tepee material. Sew them to either side of the cutout, attaching the triangles by the shorter side. These can be used later to form a chimney, leading the smoke from the tepee, and to deflect the rain.

7. Sew a rope around the circular edge of the canvas. Attach rope loops onto the sewn-on rope approximately every 12 to 18 inches. This will enable you to peg down the canvas.

8. Attach a 2-foot piece of rope to the semicircular space at the center of the straight edge. This rope will secure the canvas to the poles.

9. Erect the poles. The poles should be at least 3 feet longer than the width of the canvas. In this example, the poles should be 13 feet in length. Begin by placing the first three poles equidistant apart, forming a tripod. Lash the tripod together at the top, placing the rope slightly higher than the width (10 feet) of the canvas.

10. Gather nine more poles. Space them equally apart at the base and lean the top portion into the tripod. Secure all the poles with rope at the point where they intersect.

11. Attach the canvas to the last pole you put into the tripod with the attached rope. Pull the canvas tightly around the framework until the door pieces meet.

12. Sew metal grommets down the length of the canvas to protect the material at the seam and then pin the edges together with large wooden pegs.

13. Peg the canvas down at the base via the rope loops and adjust the poles from the inside until the canvas is taut.

14. Position two additional poles inside the tepee to control and position the smoke flaps. These act as a chimney to draw the smoke out when a fire is built inside the tepee.

Tips & Warnings

• Follow the steps above using plastic straws and a scrap of material to build a model of the tepee if you're unsure exactly how it all goes together. This will give you a practice run before tackling the larger project To deflect rain from coming inside the tepee, an additional piece of canvas, circular in shape, can be added to the top of the poles. Another rain cure can be fashioned by tying a string or cord to the poles and running them into a can or cup. Any rain water coming inside will run down the poles, and rather than dripping inside, will flow into the tin.

• The use of a fire is determined by the size of the tepee you construct. A smaller tepee will not work well with a fire and could be a serious hazard.

Resources

• Setting Up a Tepee Video
• Red Hawk Tipi Kit