Model Tipi Cover

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Model Tipi Cover

Place of OriginCheyenne

Datec. 1860

Dimensions57 × 31 1/2 in. (144.8 × 80 cm)

MediumHide, paint, sinew

ClassificationTextiles and Fiber

Credit LineGift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society

Object number

2017.17

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Label TextThe tipi became a fixture of Cheyenne society from the 17th century, as the tribe transitioned from an existence as earth lodge-dwelling farmers to buffalo-hunting warriors. For more than 300 years, tipis served as the primary dwellings for the nomadic Cheyenne. The spiritual power and social status associated with painted Cheyenne tipis often was ritually passed on for generations. This model tipi cover was created in the mid-19th century in an effort to continue sacred visual and architectural history as the Cheyenne’s established way of life was under ever-increasing threat from migrating settlers, railroad expansion, and the U.S. government. Intended as a form of remembrance, it mimics traditional Cheyenne full-scale tipi construction methods in its use of several sections of hide sewn together. The sky and the earth are symbolically depicted by the dyed blue backgrounds on the top and bottom. The horses, shown in profile and mid-stride, represent the cultural values of power, wealth, prestige, and courage that the Cheyenne associated with the ownership of horses in the 19th century. The shape of the tipi at the top is unique to Cheyenne design.