Plains Tipis Tell Stories
Like hieroglyphics on a pyramid, a tipi tells the story of its occupants. In a Plains tradition, the artwork on some tipi has three layers. The lowest layer represents Mother Earth, and the spiritual connection to the ground. The top layer, toward the tip of the cone and around a flap that could be opened and closed to let in light and air, represented the Father Sky. The center section was creative storytelling about whatever the tipi owner wanted to display. They might use that middle space to show images of a great hunt, or draw pictures of the people they loved. It might show images that came to them in a dream, of animals. It represents the earthly realm between Mother Earth and Father Sky. As the band moved place to place, the tipi cover came too, like hanging a familiar picture in a new apartment.