Indian Wigwam

Ohio History

Wigwam Frame

After our walk through the museum, we stepped back outside into the bright sunshine. There were more things to learn about Native Americans outside. Above is the beginning of a life-sized wigwam that we saw. The frame was built of long, flexible sticks that were thin yet strong. I can imagine sapling trees being cut down and having the branches stripped off. Poles were inserted into the ground to form hoops, and then the horizontal sticks were lashed on with thin strips of bark. The wigwam would then be covered with layers of some kind of bark to keep out the snow and rain. It's a warm weather version of an igloo, really. I was surprised at how small this one was, and it would seem even smaller once it was covered in bark. A slight contrast to today's houses...