- Our tipis come in two sizes
5.5m/18ft and 4m/16ft diameter
- 5.5m will sleep 4-6
people or 8-10 standing. If you like you can
squeeze more people in.
- 4m will sleep 2-4
people or 6-8 standing.
- Tipis come in a fire
resistant natural coloured caanvas
- We have one painted 4m
tipi. It has been painted in traditional style
using mainly black, orange and red stripes.
- Green carpet is provided
in the hire price.
- Over The Moon Tipis
are erected in accordance with the practices
of the Sioux tribe. Their
tipis and way of life were documented by
Reginald & Gladys Laubin in the bible of tipi
knowledge, 'The
Indian Tipi - Its History, Construction and
Use'.
Tipis are different from most
tents because, through the
smoke flaps opening, they let sun beams, moonlight,
and rain access inside the structure. In Sioux
life the tipi was laid out as shown in the
plan below .
|
D - Door Pole
S - South Tripod Pole
N - North Tripod Pole
L - Lifting Pole
F - Front Crotch
R - Rear Crotch
A - Altar
B - Bed
F - Fire
P - Anchor Peg
W - Wood
H - Host
G- Guest |
 |
When
sleeping the area around the edges is used
and the area of the altar kept clear.
Over The Moon tipis are set up to echo this
lay out with a small recepticle for catching
rain placed on the carpet / table where traditionally
the altar was.
"Directly
behind the fireplace was a little space of
bare earth which served as a family altar.
Often this space was prepared in the shape
of a square...brushed clean. The Sioux called
this altar a 'square of mellowed earth'.
It represented Mother Earth, and on this square
sweet grass, cedar or sage were burned as
incence to the spirits."
Life giving rainwater
would have dripped from the crown of poles
and fed the earth. We follow this tradition
by marking the spot with a small pot to keep
the rain in and the carpet dry. The amount
of rain that access's the tipi is negligible.
We ensure the hole is minimised and its aperture
is not greater than 5cm
diameter. We do not use rain
hoods, catchers or ozans hung below the
bound poles, because both detract
from the aesthetics of the tipi from inside
and outside. We wrap the smoke flaps tightly
around the poles to keep rain out. Much of
the tipi's visual impact is
derived from the fan of poles radiating out
when one is inside and gazes up to the
sky. It is lovely to lie in your sleeping
bag and gaze up at the patch of blue sky
framed by the poles.
Tipis can have fires in
them though the reality is that this makes the
inside of the tipi very smokey and one's clothes
soon smell. We do not allow fires in ours as
we like to keep the canvas's as clean and smelling
like canvas rather than a chimney. To make a
fire's smoke draw upwards correctly canvas linings
are fitted which we do not supply.
