Tipi (tepee,teepee) most of the modern tipi makers have adopted the accepted Sioux method of naming this structure. We have it on good authority that a direct translation of the word is ti meaning to dwell or live, and pi meaning used for; thus, tipi means used to live in. Not to be confused with the wigwam which is a usually dome shaped although occasionally conical structure covered in birch bark, used by the more sedentary Ojibwa tribe.
 
Conical shelters have been used by people for thousands of years, where ever people have needed shelter from the weather, if a plentiful supply of straight poles, bark, grass, sod, materials for making mats or the skins of large animals are available, a tipi like structure has evolved. Historically if you travel around the world through the sub arctic and arctic forests you will find examples of conical structures being used used by many of the nomadic and sedentary peoples of the area. From the Kata or Lavuu of the Sami culture in Lapland, through the Siberian forests and the traditional dwellings of the Evenk peoples, to the homes of the indigenous inhabitants of North America.
 
However the true Tipi as known to the nomadic buffalo hunters of the Great Plains varies from these other forms of habitation in a few key respects, it is a moderately light weight structure as befits an itinerant culture. The framework is an asymmetric tilted cone steeper at the back with a smoke hole extending some distance down the gently sloping side or front of the tent,with two smoke flaps that flank the smoke hole and are supported by movable out side pole to regulate the draft, ventilate the tent and carry off the smoke.
 
Early tipis were considerably smaller than the ones that we use today, made of cured buffalo skin. The native peoples of the time used dogs as beasts of burden so the relative size of the structure was dictated by the ability of these creatures to haul the lode from camp to camp. With the coming of European settlers and the reintroduction of the horse to the Americas the Tipi increased in size due to the more efficient method of transport, and the greater success that hunting from horseback brought the tribes people. The structure evolved again with access to woven materials presenting a less labor intensive way of constructing your dwelling than the time consuming scraping and curing of hides. With the destruction of the buffalo herds and the enforced settlement of the native peoples of the North American plains the tipi as a home dwindled from use. Thanks to the anthropological work of Reginald and Gladys Laubin and the native elders who shared their wisdom with them, in order to produce possibly the seminal work on the subject "The Indian Tipi, its history, construction and use". The tipi as a tent has had a renaissance and now be seen in use across the globe.