And today we will introduce our readers to the meaning of the word “wigwam” and its differences from the “teepees” of nomadic tribes.

Traditionally, a wigwam is the name given to the place of residence of the forest Indians, who lived in the northern and northeastern parts of the continent of North America. As a rule, a wigwam is a small hut,the total height of which is 3-4 meters. It is dome-shaped, and the largest wigwams can accommodate approximately 30 people at a time. Wigwams also include small-sized huts that have a cone shape and look like a tipi. Nowadays, wigwams are often used as a place for traditional rituals.

Analogs of wigwams can also be found among some African peoples, the Chukchi, Evengs and Soyts.

As a rule, the frame of the hut is made from thin and flexible tree trunks. They are tied and covered with tree bark or plant mats, corn leaves, skins and pieces of cloth. There is also a combined version of the covering, which is also additionally reinforced on top with a special outer frame, and in its absence, with trunks or special poles. The entrance to the wigwam is covered with a curtain, and its height can be either small or the full height of the wigwam.

At the top of the wigwam there is a chimney, which is often covered with a piece of bark. Raise it to remove smoke using a pole. Domed wigwam options can have either vertical or inclined walls. Most often, round wigwams are found, but sometimes you can see a rectangular structure. The wigwam can be elongated into a fairly long oval and also have a number of chimneys instead of just one. Typically, oval wigwams are called longhouses.

Cone-shaped wigwams have frames made of straight poles that are tied together at the top.

The word "wigwam" has its origins in the Proto-Algonquian dialect, and it is translated as "their house." However, there is also an opinion that this word came to the Indians from the language of the eastern Abenaki. U different nations your own pronunciation of this word, but overall they are quite close.

Another term is also known - wetu. Although widely used by the Massachusetts Indians, the term has not caught on in the rest of the world.

Nowadays, a wigwam most often refers to domed dwellings, as well as huts that are simpler in design, in which Indians from other regions live. Each tribe gives its wigwam its own name.

In literature this term most often found as a designation for the dome-shaped residence of the Tierra del Fuego Indians. They are quite similar to the traditional wigwams of the Indians from North America, but they are distinguished by the absence of horizontal ligaments on the frame.

Also, a wigwam is often called the dwelling of Indians from the High Plains, which is correctly called the word.

Tents of various sizes, shaped like wigwams, are often used in various rituals of revival and purification in the tribes of the Great Plains, as well as from a number of other regions. In this case, a special steam room is made and the wigwam itself in this case is the body of the Great Spirit himself. The round shape denotes the world as a single whole, and the steam in this case is a prototype of the Great Spirit himself, who performs spiritual and purifying regeneration and transformation.

The Indians had two types of dwellings that distinguished them from other peoples - the tipi and the wigwam. They have features characteristic of the people who used them. They are also adapted to typical human activities and environments.

To each according to his needs

The houses of nomads and settled tribes are different. The former prefer tents and huts, while for the latter, stationary buildings or half-dugouts are more convenient. If we talk about the dwellings of hunters, then animal skins could often be seen on them. The North American Indians are a people characterized by a large number of each group having its own.

For example, the Navajos preferred half-dugouts. They created an adobe roof and a corridor called a hogan through which one could enter. Former residents of Florida built huts on piles, and for nomadic tribes from the Subarctic the wigwam was the most convenient. In the cold season it was covered with skin, and in the warm season it was covered with birch bark.

Scale and strength

The Iroquois built a frame from tree bark that could last up to 15 years. Usually during this period the community lived near the selected fields. When the land became worn out, resettlement occurred. These formations were quite high. They could reach 8 meters in height, from 6 to 10 m in width, and their length was sometimes 60 meters or more. In this regard, such dwellings were nicknamed long houses. The entrance here was located at the end part. Nearby there was a picture depicting the totem of the clan, the animal that patronized and protected him. The Indians' home was divided into several compartments, in each there lived a couple forming a family. Everyone had their own hearth. For sleeping there were bunks along the walls.

Settlements of settled and nomadic types

The Pueblo tribes built fortified houses from stones and bricks. The courtyard was surrounded by a semicircle or circle of buildings. The Indian people built entire terraces on which houses could be built in several tiers. The roof of one dwelling became an outside platform for another, located above.

People who chose forests to live built wigwams. This is a portable Indian dwelling in the shape of a dome. It was distinguished by its small size. The height, as a rule, did not exceed 10 feet, however, up to thirty inhabitants could fit inside. Now such buildings are used for ritual purposes. It is very important not to confuse them with teepees. For nomads, such a design was quite convenient, since they did not have to put much effort into construction. And it was always possible to move the house to a new territory.

Design Features

During the construction, trunks were used that bent well and were quite thin. To bind them, they used elm or birch bark and mats made from reeds or reeds. Corn leaves and grass were also suitable. The nomad's wigwam was covered with cloth or skin. To prevent them from slipping, use a frame from the outside, trunks or poles. The entrance hole was covered with a curtain. The walls were inclined and vertical. Layout - round or rectangular. To expand the building, it was pulled out into an oval, making several holes for smoke to escape. The pyramidal shape is characterized by the installation of even poles that are tied at the top.

The Indians' tent-like dwelling was called a tipi. It had poles that formed a conical-shaped frame. Bison skins were used to form the tire. The hole at the top was designed specifically to allow smoke from the fire to escape into the street. When it rained, it was covered with a blade. The walls were decorated with drawings and signs that meant they belonged to one or another owner. A teepee actually resembles a wigwam in many ways, which is why they are often confused. The Indian people also used this type of buildings quite often both in the North and in the South-West and Far West traditionally for the purposes of nomadism.

Dimensions

They were also built in a pyramidal or conical shape. The diameter of the base was up to 6 meters. The forming poles reached a length of 25 feet. The tire was made from On average, from 10 to 40 animals had to be killed to create the covering. When the North American Indians began to interact with Europeans, trade exchanges began. They had a canvas that was lighter. Both leather and fabric have their drawbacks, so combined products were often created. Wooden pins were used as fasteners, and the covering was tied from below with ropes to pegs sticking out of the ground. A gap was left specifically for air movement. Like the wigwam, there was a hole for the smoke to escape.

Useful devices

A distinctive feature is that there were valves that controlled air draft. To stretch them to the lower corners, leather straps were used. This Indian dwelling was quite comfortable. It was possible to attach a tent or another similar building to it, which significantly expanded the internal area. A belt descending from above, which served as an anchor, protected from strong winds. A lining up to 1.7 m wide was laid out at the bottom of the walls. It retained internal heat, protecting people from the external cold. When it rained, they stretched a semicircular ceiling, which was called “ozan”.

By examining the buildings of different tribes, you can see that each of them is distinguished by some peculiarity that is unique to it. The number of poles is not the same. They connect differently. The pyramid formed by them can be either inclined or straight. The base has an ovoid, round or oval shape. The tire is cut in a variety of options.

Other popular types of buildings

Another interesting dwelling of the Indians is the wickiap, which is also often identified with a wigwam. The dome-shaped structure is a hut where Apaches lived predominantly. It was covered with pieces of cloth and grass. They were often used for temporary purposes to provide shelter. They covered them with branches, mats, and placed them on the outskirts of the steppe. The Athabascans who inhabited Canada preferred this type of construction. It was perfect when an army was moving into battle and needed a temporary place to stay in order to take cover and hide the fire.

The Navajos settled in hogans. And also in summer houses and dugouts. The hogan has a circular cross-section, the walls form a cone. Square structures of this type are also often found. The door was located in the eastern part: it was believed that the sun would bring good luck into the house through it. The building also has great cult significance. There is a legend that the hogan was first built by a spirit in the form of a coyote. The beavers helped him. They were engaged in construction in order to provide housing for the first people. In the middle of the five-pointed pyramid there was a fork pole. The faces had three corners. The space between the beams was filled with earth. The walls were so dense and strong that they could effectively protect people from winter weather.

At the front there was a vestibule where religious ceremonies were held. Residential buildings were large in size. In the 20th century, the Navajo began to build buildings with 6 and 8 corners. This is due to the fact that at that time there was a functioning Railway. It was possible to obtain sleepers and use them in construction. More space and space appeared, despite the fact that the house stood quite firmly. In a word, the habitats of the Indians are quite diverse, but each of them performed the functions assigned to it.

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Wigwam- the home of the forest Indians of the north and northeast of North America. More often it is a small hut, 8-10 feet high, dome-shaped. But large wigwams could accommodate up to 25-30 people. There are also small huts (about 10 feet high) that are cone-shaped (type-like). Nowadays, wigwams are more often used as traditional ritual premises. This name is often transferred to the conical-shaped dwellings of the Great Plains Indians - teepees, which has become an obsessive literary and colloquial cliche.

Design

The frame of the wigwam is made of curved thin flexible trunks. It is bound and covered with birch or elm bark; mats made of reeds, reeds, grass or corn wrappers; skins or unsewn pieces of fabric. The coating can also be combined. It is additionally pressed from above by an outer frame, poles or tree trunks. The entrance, which can be as low as three feet or quite high, is covered with a curtain. There is a hole at the top for the smoke to escape, covered, for example, with a piece of bark, which can be lifted with a pole. The walls of domed wigwams can be either inclined or vertical. In terms of plan, wigwams are most often round, but there are oval and rectangular ones. Such dwellings can be elongated into a rather long oval and have several smoke holes. Such structures are usually called long houses.

Cone-shaped (pyramidal) wigwams have frames made of straight poles tied at the top. Moreover, such wigwams are also not only round in plan, but also form a long structure (for example, among the Plateau tribes).

Terminology

The word "wigwam", which has become generally known, is an Americanism recorded since 1628. It was taken from the Algonquian languages, possibly from the language of the eastern Abenaki - wìkəwαm or wikewam. Another explanation is from Algonquian wēkou-om-ut- “in his (their) house”. The term goes back to Proto-Algonquian [*wi·kiwa·ʔmi], literally “their house.” Different Algonquian languages ​​have different pronunciations of this word.

In parallel, in the USA the term of the Algonquian Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts is known - wetu (witu, wetuom), which, however, has not received such distribution in the world. During the period of its use by settlers, it became pronounced as wekuwomut, and since 1666 it was supplanted by the “wigwam”.

Among various Algonquian peoples

• wigwôm, wìkəwαm, wikewam, wīkwām- Abenaki and Massachusetts;
• wiigiwaam, Algonquin (may vary in miigiwaam with unspecified prefix m- w-);
• wiquoam- Delawares;
• wiikiaami- Miami and Illinois;
• wikuom- Mi'kmaq;
• ȣichiȣam- in language nipmuc;
• wiigiwaam, wiigwaam(abbreviated version) - Ojibwe;
• wikiwam- in the Unami language;
• ookóówa- blackfoot (without possessive subject suffix -m);
• mâhëö"o- Cheyenne (with an unspecified prefix m-, instead of a specific third person prefix w- and without a possessive suffix -m).

Other huts

In popular culture, wigwams are also called domed dwellings and simpler huts of Indians from other regions, although they all have their own national names.

Wikieap

In the American Southwest, Apache "wigwams" covered with grass or pieces of cloth are called wikiups(pickups) ( wickiup["wɪkɪʌp]). It is also customary to call various huts and temporary shelters, covered with mats, grass or branches, among various tribes of California and the Great Basin, although they have their own designations. A number of Algonquian tribes also have similar names.

• mekewāp- Cree (with unspecified prefix m-, instead of a specific third person prefixa w-);
• wikiop- Menominee;
• wiikiyaapi- Meskwakis;
• mīciwāhp- montagnier (with an unspecified prefix m-, instead of a specific third person prefix w-);
• wekeab- Sauk.

Also, stationary domed dwellings were used by tribes on the outskirts of the steppe: Kanza, Osage, Winnebago. The Athabascans of Canada had similar stationary and portable dwellings. Occasionally, light domed buildings were also found among the nomads of the plains (Crow, Cheyenne). A similar miniature structure was even used as a wagon for children on a drag.

Cone-shaped huts covered with grass or bark were a type of dwelling among the Shoshone and Bannock tribes of the Basin. If necessary, other nomads could also build cone-shaped huts, covering them with branches (Comanche, Assiniboine). Small huts were used in military campaigns in bad weather and to camouflage fire.

Steam room

Similar small or large domed tents are also used in purification and rebirth rites among the Woodland and Great Plains tribes. At the same time, a steam room is set up (among the Lakotas the ceremony and the tent itself are called inipi- stone + tent), where the tent represents the body of the Great Spirit. Its round shape personifies the world as a whole, the steam is the visible image of the Great Spirit, performing a cleansing and spiritual transformation. Coming out into the white light from this dark room means leaving behind everything unclean.

Distant analogues

In the literature, the term “wigwam” is used for the domed dwellings of the Tierra del Fuego Indians, which are very similar to North American ones, but are distinguished by the absence of horizontal ligaments in the frame.

In the Old World, similar domed dwellings are found among the Soyts, Evenks and Eskimos (yaranga), as well as among some peoples of Africa.

see also

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Notes

Literature

• . (English) .
• Djorklund K.L. The Indians of Northern America. - New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1969. - P. 69-73. (English) .

Excerpt characterizing Wigwam

Previously, after two or three orders, two or three phrases, marshals and adjutants galloped with congratulations and cheerful faces, declaring the corps of prisoners, des faisceaux de drapeaux et d'aigles ennemis, [bunches of enemy eagles and banners,] and guns, and convoys, and Murat, as trophies he only asked for permission to send in cavalry to pick up convoys. This was the case at Lodi, Marengo, Arcole, Jena, Austerlitz, Wagram, and so on, and so on. Now something strange was happening to his troops.
Despite the news of the capture of flushes, Napoleon saw that it was not the same, not at all the same as in all his previous battles. He saw that the same feeling that he experienced was experienced by all the people around him who were experienced in battle. All faces were sad, all eyes avoided each other. Only Bosse could not understand the significance of what was happening. Napoleon, after his long experience of war, knew well what it meant for eight hours, after all the efforts expended, for the attacker to not win a battle. He knew that it was almost a lost battle and that the slightest chance could now - at that tense point of hesitation on which the battle stood - destroy him and his troops.
When he turned over in his imagination this whole strange Russian campaign, in which not a single battle was won, in which neither banners, nor cannons, nor corps of troops were taken in two months, when he looked at the secretly sad faces of those around him and listened to reports about that the Russians were still standing - a terrible feeling, similar to the feeling experienced in dreams, gripped him, and all the unfortunate events that could destroy him came to his mind. The Russians could attack his left wing, they could tear apart his middle, and a stray cannonball could kill him. All this was possible. In his previous battles, he pondered only the accidents of success, but now countless unfortunate accidents presented themselves to him, and he expected them all. Yes, it was like in a dream, when a person imagines a villain attacking him, and the man in the dream swung and hit his villain with that terrible force that, he knows, should destroy him, and he feels that his hand, powerless and soft, falls like a rag, and the horror of irresistible death seizes the helpless man.
The news that the Russians were attacking the left flank of the French army aroused this horror in Napoleon. He sat silently under the mound on a folding chair, head down and elbows on his knees. Berthier approached him and offered to ride along the line to make sure what the situation was.
- What? What are you saying? - said Napoleon. - Yes, tell me to give me a horse.
He got on horseback and rode to Semenovsky.
In the slowly spreading powder smoke throughout the entire space through which Napoleon was riding, horses and people lay in pools of blood, singly and in heaps. Napoleon and none of his generals had ever seen such horror, such a number of people killed in such a small space. The roar of the guns, which did not stop for ten hours straight and tormented the ear, gave special significance to the spectacle (like music in living paintings). Napoleon rode to the heights of Semenovsky and through the smoke he saw rows of people in uniforms of colors that were unusual for his eyes. They were Russians.
The Russians stood in dense ranks behind Semenovsky and the mound, and their guns continually hummed and smoked along their line. There was no more battle. There was an ongoing murder that could lead neither the Russians nor the French anywhere. Napoleon stopped his horse and fell back into that reverie from which Berthier had brought him out; he could not stop the work that was being done in front of him and around him and which was considered to be guided by him and dependent on him, and this work for the first time, due to failure, seemed unnecessary and terrible to him.
One of the generals who approached Napoleon allowed himself to suggest that he bring the old guard into action. Ney and Berthier, standing next to Napoleon, looked at each other and smiled contemptuously at the senseless proposal of this general.
Napoleon lowered his head and was silent for a long time.
“A huit cent lieux de France je ne ferai pas demolir ma garde, [Three thousand two hundred miles from France, I cannot allow my guard to be defeated.],” he said and, turning his horse, rode back to Shevardin.

Kutuzov sat, with his gray head drooping and his heavy body slumped, on a carpeted bench, in the very place where Pierre had seen him in the morning. He did not make any orders, but only agreed or disagreed with what was offered to him.
“Yes, yes, do it,” he responded to various proposals. “Yes, yes, go, my dear, and have a look,” he addressed first one or the other of those close to him; or: “No, no, we’d better wait,” he said. He listened to the reports brought to him, gave orders when his subordinates required it; but, listening to the reports, he seemed not to be interested in the meaning of the words of what was said to him, but something else in the expressions of the faces, in the tone of speech of those reporting, interested him. From long-term military experience, he knew and with his senile mind understood that it is impossible for one person to lead hundreds of thousands of people fighting death, and he knew that the fate of the battle is not decided by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place where the troops are stationed, not by the number of guns and killed people, and that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he watched over this force and led it, as far as it was in his power.
The general expression on Kutuzov’s face was one of concentrated, calm attention and tension, which barely overcame the fatigue of his weak and old body.
At eleven o'clock in the morning they brought him the news that the flushes occupied by the French were again repulsed, but that Prince Bagration was wounded. Kutuzov gasped and shook his head.
“Go to Prince Pyotr Ivanovich and find out in detail what and how,” he said to one of the adjutants and then turned to the Prince of Wirtemberg, who stood behind him:
“Would it please Your Highness to take command of the first army?”
Soon after the prince's departure, so soon that he could not yet get to Semenovsky, the prince's adjutant returned from him and reported to his Serene Highness that the prince was asking for troops.

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"Dwellings of the Nations of the World"

(66 “residential real estate objects” selected by us from “abylaisha” to “yaranga”)

Wall newspapers of the charitable educational project “Briefly and clearly about the most interesting things” (site site) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They ship free to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The project's publications do not contain any advertising (only founders' logos), are politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, and well illustrated. They are intended as informational “inhibition” of students, awakening cognitive activity and aspirations to read. Authors and publishers, without claiming to be academically complete in presenting the material, publish Interesting Facts, illustrations, interviews with famous figures of science and culture and thereby hope to increase the interest of schoolchildren in the educational process.

Dear friends! Our regular readers have noticed that this is not the first time we have presented an issue in one way or another related to the topic of real estate. We recently discussed the very first residential structures of the Stone Age, and also took a closer look at the “real estate” of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons (issue). We talked about the dwellings of the peoples who have long lived on the lands from Lake Onega to the shores of the Gulf of Finland (and these are the Vepsians, Vodians, Izhorians, Ingrian Finns, Tikhvin Karelians and Russians) in the series “Indigenous Peoples Leningrad region"(, and issues). We looked at the most incredible and unique modern buildings in this issue. We have also written more than once about holidays related to the topic: Realtor Day in Russia (February 8); Builder's Day in Russia (second Sunday in August); World Architecture Day and World Housing Day (first Monday in October). This wall newspaper is a short “wall encyclopedia” of traditional dwellings of peoples from all over the world. The 66 “residential real estate objects” we selected are arranged alphabetically: from “abylaisha” to “yaranga”.

Abylaisha

Abylaisha is a camping yurt among the Kazakhs. Its frame consists of many poles, which are attached from above to a wooden ring - the chimney. The entire structure is covered with felt. In the past, similar dwellings were used in the military campaigns of the Kazakh Khan Abylai, hence the name.

Ail

Ail (“wooden yurt”) is the traditional dwelling of the Telengits, the people of Southern Altai. A log hexagonal structure with an earthen floor and a high roof covered with birch bark or larch bark. There is a fireplace in the middle of the earthen floor.

Arish

Arish is the summer home of the Arab population of the Persian Gulf coast, woven from the stems of palm leaves. A kind of fabric pipe is installed on the roof, which in extremely hot climates provides ventilation in the house.

Balagan

Balagan is the winter home of the Yakuts. Sloping walls made of thin poles coated with clay were strengthened on a log frame. The low, sloping roof was covered with bark and earth. Pieces of ice were inserted into small windows. The entrance is oriented to the east and covered with a canopy. On the western side, a cattle shed was attached to the booth.

Barasti

Barasti is a common name in the Arabian Peninsula for huts woven from date palm leaves. At night, the leaves absorb excess moisture, and during the day they gradually dry out, moistening the hot air.

Barabora

Barabora is a spacious semi-dugout of the Aleuts, the indigenous population of the Aleutian Islands. The frame was made from whale bones and driftwood washed ashore. The roof was insulated with grass, turf and skins. A hole was left in the roof for entry and lighting, from where they descended inside along a log with steps cut into it. Drums were built on hills near the coast to make it convenient to observe sea animals and the approach of enemies.

Bordey

Bordei is a traditional half-dugout in Romania and Moldova, covered with a thick layer of straw or reeds. Such a dwelling saved from significant temperature changes during the day, as well as from strong winds. There was a fireplace on the clay floor, but the stove was heated black: the smoke came out through a small door. This is one of the oldest types of housing in this part of Europe.

Bahareke

Bajareque is a Guatemalan Indian hut. The walls are made of poles and branches coated with clay. The roof is made of dry grass or straw, the floor is made of compacted soil. Bajareques are resistant to the strong earthquakes that occur in Central America.

Burama

Burama is the temporary home of the Bashkirs. The walls were made of logs and branches and had no windows. The gable roof was covered with bark. The earthen floor was covered with grass, branches and leaves. Inside, bunks were built from planks and a fireplace with a wide chimney.

Valkaran

Valkaran (“house of whale jaws” in Chukchi) is a dwelling among the peoples of the Bering Sea coast (Eskimos, Aleuts and Chukchi). A semi-dugout with a frame made of large whale bones, covered with earth and turf. It had two entrances: the summer one - through a hole in the roof, the winter one - through a long semi-underground corridor.

Vardo

Vardo is a gypsy tent, a real one-room house on wheels. It has a door and windows, a stove for cooking and heating, a bed, and drawers for things. At the back, under the folding side, there is a drawer for storing kitchen utensils. Below, between the wheels, there is luggage, removable steps and even a chicken coop! The entire cart is light enough that it could be pulled by one horse. Vardo was decorated with skillful carvings and painted with bright colors. Vardo flourished in late XIX– beginning of the 20th century.

Vezha

Vezha is an ancient winter dwelling of the Sami, the indigenous Finno-Ugric people Northern Europe. The vezha was made from logs in the shape of a pyramid with a smoke hole at the top. The frame of the vezha was covered with reindeer skins, and bark, brushwood and turf were laid on top and pressed down with birch poles for strength. A stone hearth was installed in the center of the dwelling. The floor was covered with deer skins. Nearby they placed a “nili” - a shed on poles. By the beginning of the 20th century, many Sami living in Russia were already building huts for themselves and calling them with the Russian word “house”.

Wigwam

Wigwam is the common name for the dwelling of the forest Indians of North America. Most often it is a dome-shaped hut with a hole for smoke to escape. The frame of the wigwam was made of curved thin trunks and covered with bark, reed mats, skins or pieces of fabric. From the outside, the covering was additionally pressed with poles. Wigwams can be either round in plan or elongated and have several smoke holes (such structures are called “long houses”). The cone-shaped dwellings of the Great Plains Indians - "teepees" - are often mistakenly called wigwams (remember, for example, " folk art"Ball from the cartoon "Winter in Prostokvashino").

Wikieap

Wikiap is the home of the Apaches and some other Indian tribes of the Southwestern United States and California. A small, rough hut covered with branches, brush, straw or mats, often with additional pieces of cloth and blankets thrown over the top. A type of wigwam.

Turf House

The turf house has been a traditional building in Iceland since the days of the Vikings. Its design was determined by the harsh climate and the shortage of wood. Large flat stones were laid out on the site of the future house. A wooden frame was placed on them, which was covered with turf in several layers. They lived in one half of such a house, and kept livestock in the other.

Diaolou

Diaolou is a fortified multi-story building in Guangdong Province in southern China. The first diaolou were built during the Ming Dynasty, when gangs of robbers operated in Southern China. In later and relatively safe times, such fortified houses were built simply by following tradition.

Dugout

A dugout is one of the oldest and most widespread types of insulated housing. In a number of countries, peasants lived primarily in dugouts until the late Middle Ages. A hole dug in the ground was covered with poles or logs, which were covered with earth. There was a fireplace inside and bunks along the walls.

Igloo

An igloo is a domed Eskimo hut built from blocks of dense snow. The floor and sometimes the walls were covered with skins. To enter, they dug a tunnel in the snow. If the snow is shallow, the entrance was made in the wall, to which an additional corridor of snow blocks was built. Light enters the room directly through the snowy walls, although windows were also made covered with seal guts or ice floes. Often several igloos were connected to each other by long snowy corridors.

Izba

Izba is a log house in the forest zone of Russia. Until the 10th century, the hut looked like a half-dugout, built with several rows of logs. There was no door; the entrance was covered with logs and a canopy. In the depths of the hut there was a hearth made of stones. The hut was heated in black. People slept on mats on an earthen floor in the same room as the livestock. Over the centuries, the hut acquired a stove, a hole in the roof for smoke to escape, and then a chimney. Holes appeared in the walls - windows that were covered with mica plates or a bull's bladder. Over time, they began to partition the hut into two parts: the upper room and the entryway. This is how the “five-walled” hut appeared.

North Russian hut

The hut in the Russian North was built on two floors. The upper floor is residential, the lower (“basement”) is utility. Servants, children, and yard workers lived in the basement; there were also rooms for livestock and storage of supplies. The basement was built with blank walls, without windows or doors. An external staircase led directly to the second floor. This saved us from being covered with snow: in the North there are snowdrifts several meters deep! A covered courtyard was attached to such a hut. Long cold winters forced residential and outbuildings to be combined into a single whole.

Ikukwane

Ikukwane - a large domed reed house of the Zulus ( South Africa). They built it from long thin twigs, tall grass, and reeds. All this was intertwined and strengthened with ropes. The entrance to the hut was closed with a special shield. Travelers believe that Ikukwane fits perfectly into the surrounding landscape.

Cabana

Cabáña is a small hut of the indigenous population of Ecuador (a state in northwestern South America). Its frame is woven from wicker, partially coated with clay and covered with straw. This name was also given to gazebos for recreation and technical needs, installed at resorts near beaches and pools.

Kava

Kava is a gable hut of the Orochi, an indigenous people of the Khabarovsk Territory (Russian Far East). The roof and side walls were covered with spruce bark, and the smoke hole was covered with a special tire in bad weather. The entrance to the home always faced the river. The place for the hearth was covered with pebbles and fenced with wooden blocks, which were coated with clay from the inside. Wooden bunks were built along the walls.

Let's say

Kazhim is a large Eskimo communal house, designed for several dozen people and a long service life. At the site chosen for the house, they dug a rectangular hole, in the corners of which tall, thick logs were installed (the Eskimos do not have local wood, so they used trees thrown ashore by the surf). Next, walls and a roof were erected in the form of a pyramid - from logs or whale bones. A frame covered with a transparent bubble was inserted into the hole left in the middle. The entire structure was covered with earth. The roof was supported by pillars, as were the benches-beds installed along the walls in several tiers. The floor was covered with boards and mats. A narrow underground corridor was dug for the entrance.

Kazhun

Kazhun is a stone structure traditional for Istria (a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea, in the northern part of Croatia). The cajun is cylindrical in shape with a conical roof. No windows. The construction was carried out using the dry masonry method (without the use of a binding solution). Initially it served as a dwelling, but later began to play the role of an outbuilding.

Karamo

Karamo is a dugout of the Selkups, hunters and fishermen of the north of Western Siberia. They dug a hole near the steep bank of the river, placed four pillars in the corners and made log walls. The roof, also made of logs, was covered with earth. They dug an entrance from the water side and disguised it with coastal vegetation. To prevent the dugout from flooding, the floor was made gradually rising from the entrance. It was possible to get into the dwelling only by boat, and the boat was also dragged inside. Because of such unique houses, the Selkups were called “earth people.”

Klochan

A clochan is a domed stone hut common in the southwest of Ireland. Very thick, up to one and a half meters, walls were laid out “dry”, without a binder mortar. Narrow slits-windows, an entrance and a chimney were left. Such simple huts were built for themselves by monks leading an ascetic lifestyle, so you can’t expect much comfort inside.

Kolyba

Kolyba is a summer home for shepherds and lumberjacks, common in the mountainous regions of the Carpathians. This is a log house without windows with a gable roof covered with shingles (flat chips). Along the walls there are wooden beds and shelves for things, the floor is earthen. There is a fireplace in the middle, the smoke comes out through a hole in the roof.

Konak

Konak is a two- or three-story stone house found in Turkey, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The structure, which resembles the letter “L” in plan, is covered by a massive tiled roof, creating deep shadow. Each bedroom has a covered overhanging balcony and steam room. A large number of different rooms satisfy all the needs of the owners, so there is no need for buildings in the yard.

Kuvaxa

Kuvaksa is a portable dwelling for the Sami during the spring-summer migrations. It has a cone-shaped frame of several poles connected at the tops, onto which a cover made of reindeer skins, birch bark or canvas was pulled. A fireplace was set up in the center. Kuwaxa is a type of chum and also resembles the tipi of the North American Indians, but is somewhat squat.

Kula

Kula is a fortified stone tower of two or three floors with thick walls and small loophole windows. Kula can be found in the mountainous regions of Albania. The tradition of building such fortified houses is very ancient and also exists in the Caucasus, Sardinia, Corsica and Ireland.

Kuren

Kuren (from the word “to smoke,” which means “to smoke”) is the home of the Cossacks, the “free troops” of the Russian kingdom in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Don, Yaik, and Volga. The first Cossack settlements arose in plavny (river reed thickets). The houses stood on stilts, the walls were made of wicker, filled with earth and coated with clay, the roof was reed with a hole for smoke to escape. The features of these first Cossack dwellings can be traced in modern kurens.

Lepa-lepa

Lepa-lepa is the boat-house of the Badjao people of Southeast Asia. The Badjao, "sea gypsies" as they are called, spend their entire lives on boats in the Pacific Ocean's "Coral Triangle" - between Borneo, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. In one part of the boat they cook food and store gear, and in the other they sleep. They go to land only to sell fish, buy rice, water and fishing gear, and also to bury the dead.

Mazanka

Mazanka is a practical rural house in the steppe and forest-steppe Ukraine. The hut got its name from ancient technology buildings: a frame made of branches, insulated with a reed layer, generously coated with clay mixed with straw. The walls were regularly whitewashed inside and out, which gave the house an elegant look. The four-slope thatched roof had large overhangs so that the walls would not get wet in the rain.

Minka

Minka is the traditional home of Japanese peasants, artisans and merchants. The minka was built from readily available materials: bamboo, clay, grass and straw. Instead of internal walls, sliding partitions or screens were used. This allowed the inhabitants of the house to change the layout of the rooms at their discretion. The roofs were made very high so that snow and rain would roll off immediately and the straw would not have time to get wet.

Odag

Odag is the wedding hut of the Shors, a people living in the southeastern part of Western Siberia. Nine thin young birch trees with leaves were tied at the top and covered with birch bark. The groom lit a fire inside the hut using a flint. The young people stayed in the odag for three days, after which they moved to a permanent home.

Pallasso

Pallasso is a type of dwelling in Galicia (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula). A stone wall was laid out in a circle with a diameter of 10-20 meters, leaving openings for the front door and small windows. A cone-shaped straw roof was placed on top of a wooden frame. Sometimes large pallasos had two rooms: one for living, the other for livestock. Pallasos were used as housing in Galicia until the 1970s.

Palheiro

Palheiro is a traditional farmhouse in the village of Santana in the east of the island of Madeira. It is a small stone building with a sloping thatched roof all the way to the ground. The houses are painted white, red and blue colors. The first colonizers of the island began to build Paliera.

Cave

The cave is probably the most ancient natural shelter of man. In soft rocks (limestone, loess, tuff), people have long carved out artificial caves, where they built comfortable dwellings, sometimes entire cave cities. So, in cave city Eski-Kermen in Crimea (pictured) rooms carved into the rock have fireplaces, chimneys, “beds”, niches for dishes and other things, water containers, windows and doorways with traces of hinges.

Cook

The cookhouse is the summer home of the Kamchadals, the people of the Kamchatka Territory, Magadan Region and Chukotka. To protect themselves from changes in water level, housing (like a plague) was built on high stilts. Logs washed ashore by the sea were used. The hearth was placed on a pile of pebbles. The smoke came out of a hole in the middle of the sharp roof. Multi-tiered poles were made under the roof for drying fish. Cooks can still be seen on the shores of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

Pueblo

Pueblo - ancient settlements of the Pueblo Indians, a group of Indian peoples of the Southwest of modern USA. An enclosed structure, built of sandstone or raw brick, in the form of a fortress. The living quarters were arranged on terraces of several floors, so that the roof of the lower floor was a courtyard for the upper one. They climbed to the upper floors using ladders through holes in the roofs. In some pueblos, for example, in Taos Pueblo (a settlement dating back thousands of years), Indians still live.

Pueblito

Pueblito is a small fortified house in the northwestern US state of New Mexico. 300 years ago they were allegedly built by the Navajo and Pueblo tribes, who defended themselves from the Spaniards, as well as from the Ute and Comanche tribes. The walls are made of boulders and cobblestones and held together with clay. The interior is also covered with clay coating. The ceilings are made of pine or juniper beams, on top of which rods are laid. Pueblitos were located on high places within sight of each other to allow long-distance communication.

Riga

Riga (“residential Riga”) is a log house of Estonian peasants with a high thatched or reed roof. In the central room, heated in black, they lived and dried hay. In the next room (it was called the “threshing floor”) grain was threshed and winnowed, tools and hay were stored, and livestock was kept in winter. There were also unheated rooms (“chambers”), which were used as storage rooms, and in warmer times as living quarters.

Rondavel

Rondavel is a round house of the Bantu peoples (southern Africa). The walls were made of stone. The cementing composition consisted of sand, earth and manure. The roof was made of poles made of branches, to which bundles of reeds were tied with grass ropes.

Saklya

Saklya is the home of the inhabitants of the mountainous areas of the Caucasus and Crimea. Usually this is a house made of stone, clay or raw brick with a flat roof and narrow windows similar to loopholes. If the sakli were located one below the other on the mountainside, the roof of the lower house could easily serve as a yard for the upper one. The frame beams were made to protrude to create cozy canopies. However, any small hut with a thatched roof can be called a sakley here.

Seneca

Senek is a “log yurt” of the Shors, a people of the southeastern part of Western Siberia. The gable roof was covered with birch bark, which was secured on top with half-logs. The hearth was in the form of a clay pit opposite the front door. A wooden hook with a pot was suspended from a cross pole above the fireplace. The smoke was coming out of a hole in the roof.

Tipi

A tipi is a portable home for the nomadic Indians of the Great Plains of America. The tipi has a cone shape up to eight meters high. The frame is assembled from poles (pine - in the northern and central plains and juniper - in the southern). The tire is made from bison skin or canvas. A smoke hole is left on top. Two smoke valves regulate the draft of smoke from the hearth using special poles. In case of strong wind, the tipi is tied to a special peg with a belt. A teepee should not be confused with a wigwam.

Tokul

Tokul is a round thatched hut of the people of Sudan (East Africa). The load-bearing parts of the walls and conical roof are made from long mimosa trunks. Then hoops made of flexible branches are put on them and covered with straw.

Tulou

Tulou is a fortress house in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong (China). The foundation was laid out of stones in a circle or square (which made it difficult for enemies to dig under during a siege) and the lower part of the wall, about two meters thick, was built. Higher up, the wall was built from a mixture of clay, sand and lime, which hardened in the sun. On the upper floors, narrow openings were left for loopholes. Inside the fortress there were living quarters, a well, and large containers for food. 500 people representing one clan could live in one tulou.

Trullo

Trullo is an original house with a conical roof in the Italian region of Puglia. The walls of the trullo are very thick, so it is cool there in hot weather, but not so cold in winter. The trullo was two-tiered; the second floor was reached via a ladder. Often a trullo had several cone roofs, under each of which there was a separate room.

Tueji

Tueji is the summer home of the Udege, Orochi and Nanai - the indigenous peoples of the Far East. A gable roof covered with birch bark or cedar bark was installed over the dug hole. The sides were covered with earth. Inside, the tueji is divided into three parts: female, male and central, in which the hearth was located. A platform of thin poles was installed above the hearth for drying and smoking fish and meat, and a cauldron was also hung for cooking.

Urasá

Urasa is the summer home of the Yakuts, a cone-shaped hut made of poles, covered with birch bark. Long poles placed in a circle were fastened on top with a wooden hoop. The inside of the frame was painted reddish-brown with a decoction of alder bark. The door was made in the form of a birch bark curtain decorated with folk patterns. For strength, the birch bark was boiled in water, then the top layer was scraped off with a knife and sewn into strips with a thin hair cord. Inside, bunks were built along the walls. There was a fireplace in the middle on the earthen floor.

Fale

Fale is a hut of the inhabitants of the island state of Samoa (South Pacific Ocean). A gable roof made from coconut palm leaves is mounted on wooden poles arranged in a circle or oval. Distinctive feature fale - absence of walls. If necessary, the openings between the pillars are covered with mats. The wooden structural elements are tied together with ropes woven from threads of coconut husks.

Fanza

Fanza is a type of rural dwelling in Northeast China and Far East Russia among indigenous peoples. A rectangular structure built on a frame of pillars supporting a gable thatched roof. The walls were made of straw mixed with clay. Fanza had an ingenious room heating system. A chimney ran from the clay hearth along the entire wall at floor level. The smoke, before exiting into a long chimney built outside the fanza, heated the wide bunks. Hot coals from the hearth were poured onto a special elevation and used to heat water and dry clothes.

Felij

Felij is a tent of Bedouins, Arab nomads. The frame of long poles intertwined with each other is covered with fabric woven from camel, goat or sheep wool. This fabric is so dense that it does not allow rain to pass through. During the day the awning is raised to ventilate the home, and at night or in strong winds it is lowered. The felij is divided into male and female halves by a curtain made of patterned fabric. Each half has its own hearth. The floor is covered with mats.

Hanok

Hanok is a traditional Korean house with mud walls and a thatched or tiled roof. Its peculiarity is the heating system: pipes are laid under the floor, through which hot air from the hearth is carried throughout the house. The ideal place for a hanok is considered to be this: behind the house there is a hill, and in front of the house there is a stream flowing.

Khata

Khata is a traditional home of Ukrainians, Belarusians, southern Russians and some Poles. The roof, unlike the Russian hut, was made of a hipped roof: straw or reed. The walls were erected from half-logs, coated with a mixture of clay, horse dung and straw, and whitewashed - both outside and inside. Shutters were certainly installed on the windows. Around the house there was a wall (a wide bench filled with clay), protecting the lower part of the wall from getting wet. The hut was divided into two parts: residential and utility, separated by a vestibule.

Hogan

Hogan is the ancient home of the Navajo Indians, one of the largest Indian peoples in North America. A frame of poles placed at an angle of 45° to the ground was intertwined with branches and thickly coated with clay. Often a “hallway” was added to this simple structure. The entrance was curtained with a blanket. After the first railroad passed through Navajo territory, the design of the hogan changed: the Indians found it very convenient to build their houses from sleepers.

Chum

Chum is the general name for a conical hut made of poles covered with birch bark, felt or reindeer skins. This form of housing is common throughout Siberia - from the Ural Range to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, among the Finno-Ugric, Turkic and Mongolian peoples.

Shabono

Shabono is the collective home of the Yanomamo Indians, lost in the Amazon rainforest on the border of Venezuela and Brazil. A large family (from 50 to 400 people) chooses a suitable clearing in the depths of the jungle and fences it off with pillars, to which a long roof made of leaves is attached. Inside this kind of hedge remains open space for chores and rituals.

Shalash

Shalash is the general name for the simplest shelter from bad weather made from any available materials: sticks, branches, grass, etc. It was probably the first man-made shelter ancient man. In any case, some animals, in particular great apes, create something similar.

Chalet

Chalet (“shepherd’s hut”) is a small rural house in the “Swiss style” in the Alps. One of the signs of a chalet is strongly protruding eaves overhangs. The walls are wooden, their lower part can be plastered or lined with stone.

Tent

A tent is the general name for a temporary light structure made of fabric, leather or skins, stretched on stakes and ropes. Since ancient times, tents have been used by eastern nomadic peoples. The tent (under different names) is often mentioned in the Bible.

Yurt

Yurt is the general name for a portable frame dwelling with a felt covering among Turkic and Mongolian nomads. A classic yurt can be easily assembled and disassembled by one family within a few hours. It is transported on a camel or horse, its felt covering protects well from temperature changes and does not allow rain or wind to pass through. Dwellings of this type are so ancient that they are recognized even in rock paintings. Yurts are still successfully used in a number of areas today.

Yaodong

Yaodong is a cave house of the Loess Plateau of the northern provinces of China. Loess is a soft, easy-to-work rock. Local residents discovered this long ago and from time immemorial have dug their homes right into the hillside. The inside of such a house is comfortable in any weather.

Yaranga

Yaranga is a portable dwelling of some peoples of north-east Siberia: Chukchi, Koryaks, Evens, Yukaghirs. First, tripods made of poles are installed in a circle and secured with stones. The inclined poles of the side wall are tied to the tripods. The dome frame is attached to the top. The entire structure is covered with deer or walrus skins. Two or three poles are placed in the middle to support the ceiling. The yaranga is divided by canopies into several rooms. Sometimes a small “house” covered with skins is placed inside the yaranga.

We thank the Education Department of the Kirovsky District Administration of St. Petersburg and everyone who selflessly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. Our sincere gratitude to the wonderful photographers who kindly allowed us to use their photographs in this issue. These are Mikhail Krasikov, Evgeniy Golomolzin and Sergei Sharov. Thank you very much Lyudmila Semyonovna Grek - for prompt consultations. Please send your feedback and suggestions to: pangea@mail..

Dear friends, thank you for being with us!

We decided to talk about the Indians, their homes, customs, and culture. Read informative articles on the pages of Vamvigvam. After all, if you and I love wigwams so much, then we should know everything about them!

The word "Teepi" usually refers to the portable abode of the nomadic tribes of indigenous Indians who lived on the territory of the Great Plains. However, in the language of the Sioux Indian people, the word “teepee” means absolutely any dwelling, and this type of tent is called wi. This type of tent, called the tipi, was used by many other tribes living in the Far West, as well as settled tribes from the South-West of the country. In some cases, tipis were also built in parts of the country with a lot of forests. IN modern world A tipi is often mistakenly called a wigwam.

A tipi is a cone whose height can range from 4 to 8 meters. The diameter of the dwelling at the base is from 3 to 6 meters. Traditionally, the tipi frame is assembled from long wooden poles. The main material used is wood from coniferous trees such as pine and juniper, depending on the period of residence of the tribe in which the tipi is being built. The tipi's covering, called a tire, was previously made from animal rawhide, most commonly bison skin. In order to make one tipi, it took from 10 to 40 animal skins, depending on the size of the dwelling.

A little later, when trade with other continents began to develop, the Indians began to use a lighter material - canvas - to create tipis. But both materials have their drawbacks - the fabric is flammable, and dogs really like to chew on the leather. Therefore, the Indians decided to change the design and combine the covering: the upper part is made of animal skin, and the lower part is made of fabric. The materials are fastened with wooden sticks, and the bottom is tied to special pegs that were driven into the ground, leaving a small gap for air circulation inside the structure.

At the top of the structure there is a smoke hole, which has two blades that act as smoke plugs. Thanks to these blades, the draft of smoke inside the tipi is regulated. To control these blades, either special belts or poles are used, which made it possible to stretch the valves at the lower corners. Among the Canadian Indians from the Chippewa tribe, for example, these valves were not sewn to the covering itself, so they could be rotated as desired.

Also, thanks to its design, the tipi can be connected to the most ordinary tent and to other tipis. This results in additional space. From the junction of the main poles inside the tipi, a special belt is lowered to the ground. It is tied to pegs in the middle of the tipi and acts as an anchor that will prevent the tipi from collapsing due to strong winds or other bad weather. Also, additional lining is also often sewn into the bottom of the tipi, which creates greater comfort. During rain, a special round ceiling can also be stretched. However, the Indians from Missouri put leather boats on the upper ends of poles as an umbrella when it rained.

Each tribe has its own special tipi design, and they differ from each other in the number of main support poles, the order of their connection, the shape of the tipi itself, the method of cutting the fabric and skin, as well as the shape of the smoke valves and the way they are connected to the poles.

The teepee is an integral part of Indian life. The main advantage of this design is its mobility, since the tipi can be transported disassembled. Before the arrival of colonialists on the lands of the Indians, transportation of tipis was carried out manually, but after the appearance of horses, it became possible to transport tipis with their help. At the same time, it became possible to significantly increase the size of the structure, and sometimes the diameter of the base reached 7 meters.

Traditionally, the Indians place the tipi with the entrance to the east, but this rule can be neglected if the tents are placed in a circle. Thanks to the slight slope that some tipis are designed with, the tents can withstand fairly strong winds. Also, the tipi can be disassembled and assembled quite quickly. It is thanks to these factors that this design has become very popular among Indians.

Currently, tipis are used mainly by Indian conservatives, as well as reenactors and Indianists. In many places in the United States you can buy a backpacking tent with this name, which is similar in design to a teepee.

Teepee plays huge role and in Indian culture. For example, the location of the tipi with its entrance to the east is due to the fact that the Indians must first of all thank the sun in the morning for the coming day. The design of the tipi uses a circle - a sacred symbol of the Indians, which also plays a fairly large role, since a circle in Indian culture can mean anything, from rising sun before the seasonal migrations of bison.

All parts of the tipi design symbolize something: for example, the floor symbolizes the earth, which can act as an altar. The walls are the sky, and the poles that act as a frame are paths that lead from the earth to the world of spirits.

Despite the small size of the tipi, families lived in them quite comfortably, as they observed their own unique etiquette. According to this etiquette, men were located in the northern part of the tent, and women, respectively, in the southern part. You can only walk inside the structure clockwise. Guests entering the tent for the first time could only stay in the women's section of the tipi.

Walking between the central fireplace and the person standing in front of it was also considered shameful, because the Indians believed that this could interfere with people's connection with the fireplace. In order to sit down in his seat, a person had to walk behind the backs of those sitting. Some tribes believed that only the male owner of the tipi could enter the altar.

Most of the dwellings in Indian camps, as a rule, were not painted. Those units that were somehow decorated were decorated according to the traditions of the tribe, and often the paintings on them were traditionally stylized images of natural phenomena and fauna.

The most common design motif was the following: along the lower edge of the tent there was a pattern that personified the earth, and along the upper edge, accordingly, a heavenly pattern. In some cases, the drawings on the tipi were also historical in nature: for example, it could be a story that happened to the owner of the home while hunting. The Indians also paid quite a lot of attention to their dreams, images from which were sometimes also depicted on the tipi cover.

The choice of colors was limited, so some of them had double meanings. For example, red could represent both fire and earth, and yellow could represent both lightning and stone. White flowers meant water and air. The sky was painted with blue or black colors.

To decorate the tipi they used not only drawings, but also all kinds of medallions and amulets, which were made by hand in accordance with the traditions of the tribe. All kinds of trophies obtained from hunting were also used, and a little later women began to decorate tipis with the help of beadwork.

In the next article we will talk about Indian wigwams. And you can choose a handmade teepee for your child.