A wigwam, wickiup or wetu is a domed room dwelling formerly used by certain Native American
tribes, and still used for ceremonial purposes. The term wickiup is generally used to label
these kinds of dwellings in the Southwestern United States and West. Wigwam is usually
applied to these structures in the Northeastern United States. Wetu is the Wampanoag term
for a wigwam dwelling. The use of these terms by non-Native Americans is somewhat arbitrary
and can refer to many distinct types of Native American structures regardless of location
or cultural group. The wigwam is not to be confused with the Native Plains tipi which
has a very different construction, structure, and use.
Structure
The domed, round shelter was used by many different Native American cultures. The curved
surfaces make it an ideal shelter for all kinds of conditions.
These structures are formed with a frame of arched poles, most often wooden, which are
covered with some sort of roofing material. Details of construction vary with the culture
and local availability of materials. Some of the roofing materials used include grass,
brush, bark, rushes, mats, reeds, hides or cloth. Men built the wigwams and the women
put on the coverings. Wigwams of the Northeast
Wigwams were most often seasonal structures although the term is applied to rounded and
conical structures built by Native American groups that were more permanent. Wigwams usually
take longer to put up than tipis and their frames are usually not portable like a tipi.
A typical wigwam in the Northeast had a curved surface which can hold up against the worst
weather. Young green tree saplings of just about any type of wood, about ten to fifteen
feet long were cut down. These tree saplings were then bent by stretching the wood. While
these saplings were being bent, a circle was drawn on the ground. The diameter of the circle
varied from ten to sixteen feet. The bent saplings were then placed over the drawn circle,
using the tallest saplings in the middle and the shorter ones on the outside. The saplings
formed arches all in one direction on the circle. The next set of saplings was used
to wrap around the wigwam to give the shelter support. When the two sets of saplings were
finally tied together, the sides and roof were placed on it. The sides of the wigwam
were usually bark stripped from trees. The male of the family was responsible for the
framing of the wigwam. Mary Rowlandson uses the term Wigwam in reference
to the dwelling places of the Native Americans that she stayed with while in their captivity
during King Philip's War in 1675. The term wigwam has remained in common English usage
as a synonym for any "Indian house"; however this usage is incorrect as there are known
differences between the wigwam and the tipi within the Native American community.
Wigwams of the West
Wickiups were used by different indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, Southwest, and
Pacific Coast. They were single room, dome-shaped dwellings, with a great deal of variation
in size, shape and materials. The Acjachemen, an indigenous people of California,
built cone-shaped huts made of willow branches covered with brush or mats made of tule leaves.
Known as Kiichas, the temporary shelters were utilized for sleeping or as refuge in cases
of inclement weather. When a dwelling reached the end of its practical life it was simply
burned, and a replacement erected in its place in about a day's time.
Below is a description of Chiricahua wickiups recorded by anthropologist Morris Opler:
"The home in which the family lives is made by the men and is ordinarily a circular, dome-shaped
brush dwelling, with the floor at ground level. It is eight feet high at the center and approximately
seven feet in diameter. To build it, long fresh poles of oak or willow are driven into
the ground or placed in holes made with a digging stick. These poles, which form the
framework, are arranged at one-foot intervals and are bound together at the top with yucca-leaf
strands. Over them a thatching of bundles of big bluestem grass or bear grass is tied,
shingle style, with yucca strings. A smoke hole opens above a central fireplace. A hide,
suspended at the entrance, is fixed on a cross-beam so that it may be swung forward or backward.
The doorway may face in any direction. For waterproofing, pieces of hide are thrown over
the outer hatching, and in rainy weather, if a fire is not needed, even the smoke hole
is covered. In warm, dry weather much of the outer roofing is stripped off. It takes approximately
three days to erect a sturdy dwelling of this type. These houses are 'warm and comfortable,
even though there is a big snow.' The interior is lined with brush and grass beds over which
robes are spread...."
"The woman not only makes the furnishings of the home but is responsible for the construction,
maintenance, and repair of the dwelling itself and for the arrangement of everything in it.
She provides the grass and brush beds and replaces them when they become too old and
dry.... However, formerly 'they had no permanent homes, so they didn't bother with cleaning.'
The dome-shaped dwelling or wickiup, the usual home type for all the Chiricahua bands, has
already been described.... Said a Central Chiricahua informant:
Both the teepee and the oval-shaped house were used when I was a boy. The oval hut was
covered with hide and was the best house. The more well-to-do had this kind. The teepee
type was just made of brush. It had a place for a fire in the center. It was just thrown
together. Both types were common even before my time....
"A house form that departed from the more common dome-shaped variety is recorded for
the Southern Chiricahua as well:
...When we settled down, we used the wickiup; when we were moving around a great deal, we
used this other kind..."
'Wigwam' in different Algonquian languages
The English word wigwam derives from Eastern Abenaki wigwom, from Proto-Algonquian *wi·kiwa·ʔmi.
Other Algonquian languages have similar names for the structure:
wigwôm in Abenaki wiigiwaam in the Anishinaabe languages; syncoped
as wiigwaam wiigiwaam in the Algonquin language can vary
as miigiwaam
ookóówa in the Blackfoot language mâhëö'o in the Cheyenne language
wiikiaami in the Miami-Illinois language wikuom in the Mi'kmaq language
ȣichiȣam in the Nipmuc language wikëwam in Unami
wickiup "sit"): wiikiyaapi in Fox
mekewāp in Cree mīciwāhp in Montagnais
wikiop in Menominee wekeab in Saki
Use of similar dwellings elsewhere today
Near identical constructions are used by today's nomadic Somali People as well as the Afar
People on the Horn of Africa. They are not called wickiup but Aqal. Often pieces of old
clothing or plastic sheet, woven grass mats, or whatever material is available will be
used to cover the aqal's roof. Similar domed tents are also used by the Bushmen and Nama
people and other indigenous peoples in Southern Africa.
See also
Sweat lodge - a ceremonial sauna that is often built in the wigwam style
Tipi - another type of Native American dwelling. Hogan - a dwelling that uses earth in its
construction Quiggly hole or kekuli or Kickwillie hole
- a type of pit-house common in the Northwest Plateau
Indigenous peoples of North America portal Home portal
References
Bibliography Opler, Morris E.. An Apache life-way: The
economic, social, and religious institutions of the Chiricahua Indians. Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press.. External links
Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Wigwam". Encyclopædia Britannica 28. Cambridge University Press.
p. 629. Chiricahua wickiup
making of a wickiup drawing of a wickiup
How to build a wigwam Wigwam construction