A cone-shaped tent traditionally made of animal hides stretched over wooden poles, used by Native American tribes.
From the Lakota Sioux word 'tipi' or 'tipis,' meaning 'dwelling' or 'home.' The word entered English in the early 1800s through contact with Plains tribes. English speakers added the doubled 'ee' spelling, though 'tipi' is the more accurate transliteration.
Teepees were engineering marvels—the cone shape naturally sheds rain and snow, the smoke hole at the top creates a chimney effect, and they could be assembled or moved in hours! Indigenous peoples solved thermodynamics problems that modern architects still study.
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