Indigenous Life: Wigwam Construction

 

"They have chosen the site, marked the geometry on the ground, harvested saplings and set them deep in the soil so we have a twelve foot circle of neatly spaced maple poles."

~Braiding Sweetgrass

Along with transportation, we took a look at Indigenous shelter, namely the wigwam. We were making minis, so they would not house people, like the story from Braiding Sweetgrass or this amazing timelapse of a backyard wigwam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb2s9vxrS_E

Each child set themselves up with a scrap wood base, drilled holes that would house their willow branches and set to work creating the frame for dried grasses.