One Little, Two Little, Three Little...
In a thrift store a few weeks back, I ran across a neat little book, "The Three Little Indians," published by National Geographic, in 1974 (a good year, as far as one who was born in it is concerned :-). We read it, and it sparked a fire for learning all things Native American.
They want to fish with spears, ride bareback, make pottery bowls, paint themselves with berries and hunt, for what, they know not, but for something none the less.
The drive to be wild and free, readying themselves for the transition from boys to braves, has taken hold of their souls.
And so, remembering tepees showing up on some of my favorite blogs, I knew that we must create our own version.
We bought three twin-sized natural fiber duvet covers at IKEA ($5 each) and 6 very long garden stakes at Home Depot. Two stakes fit in the small slot at the top of each duvet cover, and then are pushed into the corners to creat a fabric triangle. The poles are tied to each other at the top. I cut a small hole in the tops of the covers, and looped this over the "V" made by the tied poles. Repeat with the remaining 4 sticks and 2 duvets. Then, lash all three sides together at the top, and voila, tepee.
We used fabric paints (not berries) to create some Native American art on the sides.
It makes a nice place to relax,
and learn.
We read that the plains Indians kept their fires going all the time, and only started new fires as part of their celebration of a new year.
All that talk of fire brought to mind a handy little trick that I'd read on another inspiring blog:
Now, I'm pretty sure that the Blackfoot did not get to roast marshmallows or cook hot dogs over the open flame, like we did, but the trade off, I'm told, is that they actually got to sleep in their tepees. The 21st century has it's downsides, to be sure. One of them is a Mama who has a choice, and chooses air conditioning.
It's not that I'm opposed to camping, really, I actually love it. It's just that I'm opposed to doing it in an open air structure that cannot be zipped and hence free of critters. Call me crazy.
It's time now for you to make a tepee too. You know why? Cuz it's fun, and cuz everybody's doing it. See:
Lori's Better Than A Treehouse Tepee
C'mon, what are ya, chicken?
