Native American Tents

The native american tents were constructed of materials and designed in a manner that were natural to the area. Several different designs are known:

The Native American Teepee

This structure was predominately used in the Great Plains.
The word teepee or tipi as it is sometimes spelled, comes from the Lakota language. The Lakota language was spoken by the Lakota people, a tribe of indians that lived on the prairies of the midwest. The teepee structure is similar in design to a tripod covered with animal hides.
Constructing a shelter in the plains was not an easy task. The shelter had to be portable because the tribes traditionally followed the buffalo herds and other game.
The availability of materials was limited, and building something like a mud hut was hardly portable. The teepee fulfilled the need for a portable shelter. Click here for more information on the Native American Teepee.

Native American Wigwam

The Native American Wigwam is a domed structure that existed in the American northeast
The wigwam was constructed of wood saplings bent to form a domed shape. Once the basic dome is formed additional saplings are lashed to the vertical saplings wrapping around the sides to add support to the overall structure. Once the ribs of the wigwam are in place it is then covered to provide a somewhat weather tight structure. The covering will vary by tribe and the availability of materials and will include hides, grass, brush, bark, cloth and other local materials.

Native American Wickiup

There’s not much if anything that distinguishes the “Wigwam” for the “Wickiup” other than locale.
As noted earlier, the wigwam is an American Northeast shelter. The Wickiup is associated with the American Great Basin area, the American Southwest and the Pacific Coast. As you can from the photos they are very similar in appearance. Both are domed structures essentially constructed, formed, and covered with local materials. Both the wigwam and wickiup are not portable structures like the teepee, but are built to be more permanent.

Looking at these three types of Native American Shelters the teepee is most closely related to being a tent. It gains this position because of its portability like tents.