Teepee Teachings

Historically, the teepee was used by Indigenous people of the Plains in the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies of North America, as well as by indigenous peoples of northern Europe and Asia under other names.

Tipi lodges are still in use by these peoples, though now primarily for ceremonial purposes.

Tipis are stereotypically and incorrectly associated with all Native Americans in the United States and Aboriginal people in Canada, despite their usage being unique to the peoples of the Plains. Native American tribes and First Nation band governments from other regions have used other types of dwellings.

The teepee is durable, provides warmth and comfort in winter, is cool in the heat of summer, and is dry during heavy rains.

Teepees can be disassembled and packed away quickly when people need to relocate and can be reconstructed quickly upon settling in a new area.

Historically, this portability was important to Plains Indians with their at-times nomadic lifestyle.

The Cree people use 15 poles to make the structure of the teepee. For every pole in that teepee, there is a teaching. So there are 15 teachings that hold up the teepee. Other Nations use 16 poles, and maybe more.

The teepee does not have to face east all the time; it can rotate in any direction. It is only the first time that I request that the teepee face east, because of the opening ceremony.

To start, we take three poles and bind them together to make a tripod. Each pole also has a very specific meaning. These three together fortify the structure. They are obedience, respect and humility. Notice the poles, the way they stand. If they stood straight up and down, they couldn’t support a teepee. But balanced properly together, they are able to reinforce each other. There’s a teaching in that. In order to live in righteousness we need a relationship with the three: The Creator, The Son and His Spirit, to live in balance with Him and His creation.

The tops of the poles have many teachings. Each one points in a different direction. We are like those poles. We all need the strength and support of our Creator, but we accept that we all have different journeys and point in different directions we are all ONE knitted together.

The poles also teach us that no matter what version of the Great Spirit we believe in, we obey The Creator from those many directions and belief systems; we just have different journeys to get there. And where the poles come out together at the top, it’s like they’re creating a CROSS. And they also resemble a bird with its wings up when it comes to land, and that’s another teaching: the spirit coming to land, holding its wings up.