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Frosty and
Dave's tent is made of
Egyptian cotton
Cree tepees
and wigwams were made of
ash or spruce poles
birchbark
cedar bark
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The Cree and Ojibwa people were living in the Boreal Forest
long before
canvas tents, log cabins, mobile homes, or sky-rise apartments were introduced
to North America. During the summer and winter, they lived in wigwams or
tepees covered in bark. Usually birchbark was used to cover their dwellings
in the same manner that it was used to build
canoe
s. Calvin Rutstrum, an
author and accomplished wilderness traveler of the mid 1900s lived and traveled
with the Cree many times during the summer and winter. In his book Paradise
Below Zero he gives an interesting description of a typical Cree winter
dwelling.
Frosty checks out a wigwam built for summer
use. In the winter a second layer of birch bark would be added around
the bottom 4 or 5 feet and insulated with moss or leaves. I think
I will stick with our tent!
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"The birchbark tepee occupied by these natives was
of double construction to a point well above the snow-line, insulated
between with dry caribou moss-in all, a marvel of fine Indian craftsmanship.
When my host explained that the insulation was primarily to prevent the
snow from melting against the heated birchbark wall, preserving in turn
the even greater insulation value of the snow, I realized the technology
of this sort was ages old and could not be considered the special prerogative
of an industrial age. Smoke had been drifting lazily out over the spruce
forest from the peak of the tepee. There, ingenious flaps controlled by
a long pole from the ground handled the draft as the wind changed."
The Wilderness Classroom Organization
4605 Grand Ave.
Western Springs, IL 60558
(630) 204-0420
info@wildernessclassroom.com
All content copyright (c) The Wilderness Classroom, 2002. All
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