Native American architecture—Plains
Native American architecture in the Plains region showcases a unique interplay between mobile and permanent structures, reflecting the diverse lifestyles of its inhabitants. Historically, Plains tribes utilized a range of architectural forms, from prehistoric brush-covered lodges supported by tree trunks to the iconic tipi, which evolved into a versatile year-round dwelling. The tipi, made from poles and buffalo hides, exemplifies the adaptation of shelter to the nomadic lifestyle facilitated by horse transportation.
Permanent structures included earthlodges, commonly found along the Missouri River, which were constructed with wooden frames and covered in materials like grass and sod. These dwellings often featured defensive elements, such as palisades, particularly in Mandan villages, which were centered around plazas and ceremonial sites. Other significant architectural forms included medicine wheels, believed to have both terrestrial and celestial alignments, and various ceremonial lodges used for rituals, including the Sun Dance lodge and inipi sweat lodges.
The architectural practices of Plains tribes not only served functional purposes but also embodied cultural, spiritual, and communal values, illustrating the deep connection between people, their environment, and their traditions. This rich architectural heritage invites further exploration into the ways in which these structures reflect the history and identity of Plains Native American cultures.
Native American architecture—Plains
Tribes affected: Plains tribes
Significance: Plains tribes used a variety of temporary and permanent dwellings, including earthlodges and grass houses; the best-known Plains dwelling is the tipi
Plains Indian architecture is marked by contrasts between mobile and permanent constructions. Evidence suggests that both types of dwelling have a long history in the Plains region. Prehistoric tribes constructed brush-covered lodges supported by stationary cones of branchless trees. They also left “tipi rings,” circles of rocks probably used to hold down the sides of small hide-covered dwellings.
Medicine wheels, circular constructions of boulders with both terrestrial and celestial alignments, were another early architectural achievement. The best-known of these is in the Bighorn Mountains of northern Wyoming. Petroforms, rock designs resembling animal and human figures, suggest a southeastern Indian cultural influence in the Canadian and Dakotan plains.
Along the Missouri River, the typical house type was the earthlodge. From the Dakotas to the northeast, the earthlodges of the prehistoric seminomadic agricultural communities were primarily rectangular and consisted of wooden uprights joined by cross beams and rafters covered with sticks, grass, and sod. Along the upper Missouri, villagers used the terrain to augment defenses consisting of dry moats or log palisades.
Palisades protected the Mandans’ earthlodge dwellings, which surrounded plazas dominated by a wooden shrine honoring the mythic hero Lone Man. Mandan post-and-beam construction was overlaid by wooden rafters supporting willow branches, grass, and sod. The rectangular format of the Mandans’ sacred Okeepa lodge was a reminder of its prehistoric architectural origins.
The Caddo, Kichai, and Wichita of the southern Plains constructed permanent grass houses of thatch bundles fixed to a wood pole frame. Other permanent Plains structures were the ceremonial Sun Dance lodge (of the Kiowa, Arapaho, Shoshone, and Cheyenne), menstrual huts, funerary platforms, religious structures, and sweathouses, such as the Sioux inipi, made of bent willow saplings covered with buffalo hides.
The tipi, a cone of poles covered by sewn and tanned buffalo hides and staked to the ground, was widely used for temporary shelter and later became a year-round mobile dwelling. Tipis developed from the “tipi ring” shelter and the Northeastern Woodlands three-pole conical tent. With the arrival of horses to serve as transportation, tipis became larger and more elaborate.