Types of dwellings. Tepee - a traditional dwelling of the North American Indians Painted Cheyenne tipi cover

We decided to talk about the Indians, their dwellings, customs, culture. Read informative articles on the pages of Vamvigvam. After all, if you and I love wigwams so much, then we should know everything about them!

The word "Teepee", as a rule, refers to the portable dwelling of nomadic tribes of indigenous Indians who lived on the territory of the Great Plains. However, in the language of the Sioux Indian people, the word "teepee" means absolutely any dwelling, and this type of tent is called w.i. This type of tent, like a tipi, was also used by many other tribes living in the Far West, as well as settled tribes from the South-West of the country. In some cases tipis were built in parts of the country with a lot of forests. IN modern world tipi is often erroneously called a wigwam.

Tipi is a cone, the height of which can be from 4 to 8 meters. The diameter of the dwelling at the base is from 3 to 6 meters. Traditionally, the tipi frame is assembled from long wooden poles. Wood is used as the main material coniferous trees, such as pine and juniper, depending on the time of residence of the tribe in which the tipi is built. The tipi covering, which is called a tire, was previously sewn from rawhide of animals, most often from the skin of bison. In order to make one tipi, it took from 10 to 40 animal skins, depending on the size of the dwelling.

A little later, when trade with other continents began to develop, the Indians began to use lighter material - canvas - to create tips. But both materials have their drawbacks - the fabric is flammable, and dogs really like to gnaw on the skin. Therefore, the Indians decided to change the design and combine the coating: the upper part is made of animal skin, and the lower part is made of fabric. The materials are fastened with wooden sticks, and the bottom is tied to special pegs that were driven into the ground, leaving a small gap for air circulation inside the structure.

In the upper part of the structure there is a smoke hole, which has two blades that act as smoke plugs. Thanks to these blades, the draft of smoke inside the tipi is regulated. To control these blades, either special belts or poles are used, which made it possible to stretch the valves at the lower corners. Among the Canadian Indians of the Chippewa tribe, for example, these valves were not sewn to the cover itself, so they could be rotated as you like.

Also, due to its design, the tipi can be connected to the most ordinary tent and to other tips. This results in additional space. From the junction of the main poles inside the tipi, a special belt is lowered to the ground. It is tied to pegs in the middle of the tipi and acts as an anchor to keep the tipi from collapsing due to strong winds or other bad weather. Also, an additional lining is often sewn on the bottom of the tipi, which creates more comfort. During rain, a special round ceiling can also be stretched. However, the Indians from Missouri, when it rained, put leather boats on the upper ends of the poles as an umbrella.

Each tribe has its own special tipi design, and they differ from each other in the number of main support poles, the order in which they are connected, the shape of the tipi itself, the method of cutting cloth and skin, as well as the shape of the smoke valves and the way they are connected to the poles.

Tipi is an integral part of Indian life. The main advantage of this design is its mobility, as the tipi can be transported unassembled. Before the colonial Indians appeared on the lands, tipis were transported manually, but after the advent of horses, it became possible to transport tips with their help. At the same time, it became possible to significantly increase the size of the structure, and sometimes the diameter of the base reached 7 meters.

Traditionally, the Indians put tipis with the entrance to the east, but this rule can be neglected when the tents are in a circle. Due to the slight slope, which is provided by the design of some types of tips, tents can withstand fairly strong winds. Also, the tipi is quickly disassembled and assembled. It is thanks to these factors that this design has become very popular among the Indians.

At present, tipis are used mainly by Indian conservatives, as well as reenactors and Indianists. In many places in the US, you can buy a tourist tent with this name, which is similar in design to a tipi.

Tipi plays a huge role in the culture of the Indians. For example, the location of the tipi with the entrance to the east is due to the fact that the Indians must first of all thank the sun for the coming day in the morning. The design of the tipi uses a circle - the sacred symbol of the Indians, which also plays a rather large role, since the circle in Indian culture can mean anything, from the rising sun to the seasonal migrations of bison.

All parts of the tipi design symbolize something: for example, the floor symbolizes the earth, which can play the role of an altar. The walls are the sky, and the poles that act as a frame are the paths that lead from the earth to the world of spirits.

Despite such a small tipi, families lived in them quite comfortably, as they observed their own unique etiquette. According to this etiquette, the men were located in the northern part of the tent, and the women, respectively, in the south. You can only walk inside the structure in a clockwise direction. Guests entering the tent for the first time could only be in the women's section of the tipi.

Walking between the central hearth and the person standing in front of it was also considered shameful, because the Indians believed that this could interfere with people's communication with the hearth. In order to sit down in his place, a person had to pass behind the backs of those sitting. Some tribes believed that only the male owner of the tipi could enter behind the altar.

Most of the dwellings in the Indian camps, as a rule, were not painted. Those units that were somehow decorated were designed according to the traditions of the tribe and often the paintings on them were traditionally stylized images. natural phenomena and fauna representatives.

The most common motif of the drawing was the following: a pattern representing the earth was launched along the lower edge of the tent, and a heavenly pattern, respectively, along the upper edge. In some cases, the drawings on the tipi were also of a historical nature: for example, it could be a story that happened on a hunt with the owner of the dwelling. The Indians paid quite a lot of attention to their dreams, the images of which were sometimes also depicted on the tipi cover.

The choice of colors was not rich, so some of them had double meaning. For example, red could mean both fire and earth, while yellow could mean both lightning and stone. White flowers denoted water and air. The sky was painted in blue or black.

Tipis were decorated not only with drawings, but also with all kinds of medallions and amulets, which were made by hand in accordance with the traditions of the tribe. All sorts of trophies obtained during the hunt were also used, and a little later, women began to decorate tips with the help of beadwork.

In the next article we will talk about Indian wigwams. And choose tipi self made for your child, you can.

The Indians had two types of dwellings that distinguished them from other peoples - a tipi and a wigwam. They have features peculiar to the people who used them. They are also adapted to the typical activities of humans and the environment.

To each according to his needs

The houses of nomads and settled tribes are different. The former prefer tents and huts, while the latter prefer stationary buildings or semi-dugouts. If we talk about the dwellings of hunters, then one could often see the skins of animals on them. North American Indians - a people for whom a large number was characteristic. Each group had its own.

For example, the Navajos preferred semi-dugouts. They created an adobe roof and a corridor called "hogan" through which one could enter inside. Former residents of Florida built pile huts, and for nomadic tribes from the Subarctic, the most convenient was the wigwam. In the cold season, it was covered with skin, and in the warm season, with birch bark.

Scale and strength

The Iroquois built a frame from tree bark that could last up to 15 years. Usually during such a period the community lived near the selected fields. When the land wore out, there was a resettlement. These buildings were quite high. They could reach 8 meters in height, from 6 to 10 meters wide, and sometimes they were 60 meters or more in length. In this regard, such dwellings were nicknamed long houses. The entrance here was located in the end part. Nearby was a picture depicting the totem of the clan, the animal that patronized and protected it. The dwelling of the Indians was divided into several compartments, in each there lived a couple forming a family. Everyone had their own hearth. There were bunk beds near the walls for sleeping.

Settled and nomadic settlements

The Pueblo tribes built fortified houses of stones and bricks. The courtyard was surrounded by a semicircle or circle of buildings. The Indian people built entire terraces on which houses could be built in several tiers. The roof of one dwelling became a platform outside for another, located on top.

People who chose forests for life built wigwams. This is a portable Indian dwelling in the shape of a dome. It differed not large sizes. The height, as a rule, did not exceed 10 feet, however, up to thirty inhabitants were placed inside. Now such buildings are used for ritual purposes. It is very important not to confuse them with teepee. For nomads, such a design was quite convenient, since they did not have to put much effort into construction. And it was always possible to move the house to a new territory.

Design features

During the construction, trunks were used, which bent well and were quite thin. To bind them, they used elm or birch bark, mats made from reeds or reeds. Corn leaves and grass were also suitable. The nomad's wigwam was covered with cloth or skin. To prevent them from slipping, they used a frame on the outside, trunks or poles. The entrance was covered with a curtain. The walls were inclined and vertical. Layout - round or rectangular. To expand the building, it was pulled into an oval, making several holes for smoke to escape. The pyramidal form is characterized by the installation of even poles that are tied at the top.

The dwelling of the Indians, similar to a tent, was called a tipi. He had poles, from which the skeleton of a conical shape was obtained. The skins of bison were used to form the tire. The hole at the top was designed specifically for the smoke from the fire to go out into the street. During the rain it was covered with a blade. The walls were decorated with drawings and signs that meant belonging to one or another owner. Tipi really resembles a wigwam in many ways, which is why they are often confused. This type of building was also used by the Indian people quite often both in the North and in the Southwest and the Far West traditionally for the purposes of nomadism.

Dimensions

They were also constructed in a pyramidal or cone shape. The diameter of the base was up to 6 meters. Forming poles reached a length of 25 feet. The tire was made from On average, from 10 to 40 animals had to be killed to create the cover. When the North American Indians began to interact with the Europeans, a trade exchange began. They had canvas, which was more light. Both leather and fabric have their drawbacks, so combined products were often created. Wooden pins were used as fasteners; from below, the coating was tied with ropes to pegs sticking out of the ground. A gap was left especially for the movement of air. As in the wigwam, there was a hole for smoke to escape.

Useful Devices

A distinctive feature is that there were valves that regulate the air draft. To stretch them to the lower corners, leather straps were used. This dwelling of the Indians was quite comfortable. It was possible to attach a tent or another similar building to it, which significantly expanded the internal area. From a strong wind, a belt descending from above, which served as an anchor, protected. A lining was laid out at the bottom of the walls, which had a width of up to 1.7 m. It retained internal heat, protecting people from external cold. During the rain, a semicircular ceiling was stretched, which was called "ozan".

Examining the buildings of different tribes, you can see that each of them is distinguished by some of its own, inherent only feature. The number of poles is not the same. They connect differently. The pyramid formed by them can be both inclined and straight. At the base there is an ovoid, round or oval shape. The tire is cut in a variety of options.

Other popular types of buildings

Another interesting dwelling of the Indians is the wikiap, which is also often identified with the wigwam. The building in the form of a dome is a hut in which mainly Apaches lived. It was covered with pieces of cloth and grass. They were often used for temporary purposes to hide. Covered with branches, mats, set on the outskirts of the steppe. The Athabaskans, who inhabited Canada, preferred this type of construction. She was perfect when the army advanced to battle and needed a temporary place of residence in order to hide themselves and hide the fire.

The Navajo settled in hogans. And also in summer-type houses and dugouts. Hogan has a round section, the walls form a cone. Often there are square designs of this type. The door was located in the eastern part: it was believed that the sun brings good luck into the house through it. The building also has a great cult significance. There is a legend that tells that the hogan was first built by a spirit in the form of a coyote. The beavers helped him. They were engaged in construction in order to provide housing for the first people. In the middle of the five-pointed pyramid was a fork pole. The faces had three corners. The space between the beams was filled with earth. The walls were so dense and strong that they could effectively protect people from the winter weather.

At the front was a vestibule where religious ceremonies were held. Residential buildings were large. In the 20th century, the Navajo began to build buildings with 6 and 8 corners. This is due to the fact that at that time the railway functioned not far from them. It was possible to get sleepers and use them in construction. There was more space and space, despite the fact that the house stood quite firmly. In a word, the habitats of the Indians are quite diverse, but each of them performed the functions assigned to it.

John Manchip White ::: Indians of North America. Life, religion, culture

As we have already seen, the people of the Hohokam and Anasazi cultures, who lived in the southwest (which was inhabited before any other area) at the dawn of our era, were already skilled architects then. The Hohokam Indians built their famous buildings, including the Casa Grande, either from adobe - bricks from sun-dried mud, or from Kalish - dried hard clay bricks. Called "prairie marble" or "steppe marble" by early white American settlers, adobe and calish were cheap but strong and durable. building material; and today many residential and public buildings in the southwest are made of them. As for the people of the Anasazi culture, they proved to be remarkable masters of stone architecture, turning ordinary caves in Mesa Verde and elsewhere into dwellings of truly fabulous beauty, as well as building their famous free-standing "apartment buildings" in Chaco Canyon.

Somewhat to the north, we meet the earthen dwellings of their nomadic neighbors - the Navajo Indians. This numerous tribe of the Athabaskan language family wandered for a long time before settling in the area of ​​the Pueblo settlements on the Rio Grande. These "dugouts" are unique in that, together with the pueblo dwellings, they are the only true Indian dwellings which are still in use today. On the Navajo Indian Reservation, you can literally find these squat, conspicuous dwellings at every turn, which are called hogans. The floor inside the hogan is circular, symbolizing the sun and the universe; from above it is covered with a vaulted wooden roof, which, in turn, is covered with densely packed earth. The entrance is a simple opening, hung with a blanket. It faces east towards the rising sun. At a short distance from the main hogan there is a "bathhouse" - a smaller hogan without a smoke hole; in this structure, reminiscent of a sauna or a Turkish bath, the family can relax and unwind. Such "baths" are very common and are found in almost all Indians of North America. Next to the main dwelling was also ramada - a gazebo made of wooden posts under the canopy of trees, in which the elderly could take a nap, the children could play, and the women could weave or cook.

Dwellings from the earth, of various kinds, could be found on the plains and prairies, but to a greater extent in the northern regions, where the summer was very hot and the winter was severe and cold. The Pawnee in Nebraska, and the Mandan and Hidatse in North and South Dakota dug their dwellings deep into the ground. If the dwellings of the Pawnee were round unpretentious dugouts, then the dwellings of the Hidats and Mandans were large, skillfully executed structures, supported from the inside by a powerful branched wooden frame. Some of the Mandan dwellings covered an area 25–30 m in diameter; several families lived in such a dwelling, and there were also stalls for horses, which the owners did not dare to leave outside. The inhabitants of such dwellings rested and basked in the sun on the roof of the hogan. Iroquois tribes also "huddled" in one longhouse; according to the evidence of European missionaries who had to temporarily live there, it was very difficult to withstand the "bouquet" of the heat of the fire, smoke, various smells and barking dogs.

In the central part of the Plains region, that is, in most of North America, the main dwelling of the Indian was a tent-type structure, which was called types. A tipi is sometimes erroneously called a wigwam, but this is a completely different structure, as we will now see. The tipi was a cone-shaped tent covered with painted bison skin; such tents are well known from many films about the Indians. The hunting tents were small in size, but the tents in the main camp, as well as the tents for solemn ceremonies could reach 6 m in height and occupy an area with a diameter of 6 m; its construction took up to 50 buffalo skins. Regardless of their size, teepees were perfectly suited to both the conditions of the terrain and the conditions of life of nomadic tribes: they were easy to set up and roll up. The tipi “set” included 3-4 main props and 24 smaller wooden props. When the tent was dismantled, it was possible to assemble the already mentioned drag from the same structures, on which both the folded tipi and other loads were laid. In the camp, the main wooden supports were placed together in a large triangle and tied at its top, then auxiliary supports were attached to them, the cover was pulled over and the entire structure, resembling a giant crescent moon, was fastened with tendon straps. At the bottom, the coating was fixed with wooden pegs. In winter, the covering inside the tipi was tied to supports, and from below it was fixed to the ground to keep warm. In summer, on the contrary, the coating was thrown up to provide access fresh air. The fire was kindled right in the center of the dwelling, and the smoke came out through a chimney neatly lined with reeds, tapering towards the top. If the wind was blowing in such a direction that the smoke remained inside the tipi, the position of the supports was very cleverly changed so that all the smoke went out. Unlike dwellings made of earth, tips were decorated on the outside with beads, porcupine quills; applied various signs and symbols of a religious and mystical nature; also, a personal sign or symbol of the owner of the dwelling was depicted outside. Tipi, belonging to such tribes as the Cheyenne and the Blackfoot, were truly remarkable structures of great beauty and originality. Not without reason, the Indians of the Plains region called paradise "the land where there are many teepees", believing that this is an endless flowering land dotted with sparkling multi-colored teepee tents.

Tipis were also characteristic of other areas of North America; however, they were not as magnificent there as they were in the Plains. Some tribes did not decorate tipis at all; others, especially those who lived in a harsh climate, did their best to insulate them, using mats, bedding, carpets, and whatever came to hand that could serve as insulating material. In Canada and on the northeast coast, birch bark was used as a covering, which was not suitable for richly decorating it with designs. It should be noted that tipi-type dwellings were known not only in North America, but also in other parts of the world, especially in Northeast Asia. It is likely that the ancient Asian hunters who came to America and Canada lived in caves in winter and in tent dwellings in summer; although, of course, such short-lived material as leather and wood could not have survived to this day, and therefore we have no archaeological confirmation of this assumption. People of that time are only called "cave people".

wigwam - a dwelling that has wooden supports, like a tipi, but its top is rounded, and it is covered not with skins, but with woven mats or birch bark. Often, for stability, a wooden frame was located inside the wigwam, resembling a platform of wooden scaffolding, which were firmly attached to the base with fiber ropes, which made the dwelling look like an overturned boat. More fragile, usually temporary dwellings, covered over the skeleton with tufts of reeds and dry grass, were called vicaps. Such huts were lived in desert areas like the Great Basin region and in the arid fringes of the southwest, where tribes lived in poverty and were at a very low level of material culture. Wickap was a typical dwelling of the Apaches - a tribe of a brave, but very backward.

Teepees and vikapas should be distinguished from the majestic residential buildings covered with reed-woven material, which were characteristic of southern regions USA. These structures were built by people who settled in the southeast and in the Mississippi basin, where the builders of the famous "temple" mounds once lived and worked. These people built imposing and majestic tall buildings of a rounded shape with a powerful wooden colonnade. Often the roofs and walls of houses were covered with densely woven and brightly decorated reed mats. In such houses lived the forest tribes of North and South Carolina, as well as the northeast coast. There were often long houses with a domed roof and a trellis veranda. Along the entire length of such houses were wide benches on which entire families ate, slept, entertained and performed religious rites, similar to the communities of Southeast Asia that lived in a similar way.

The culture of building "long houses" has reached the highest level in North-west; as already noted, this area is known for its cultural achievements in several other areas. Tribes such as the Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit made boards and beams from red and yellow cedar, which were used to build houses that could accommodate 30–40 people. Such houses almost always had a length of at least 15 m and a width of at least 12 m and were masterpieces of carpentry, wooden architecture and tiled wooden ornaments. On the boards, grooves and tongues were skillfully made, which firmly entered the butt grooves. The roofs of the houses were covered with tree bark. The walls, both inside and outside, and the partitions that divided the interior into several rooms were decorated with carvings and drawings, their theme was associated with sacred spirits that were supposed to protect the house and household. The house of each leader was decorated in a special way, and uniquely individually. The ridge of the roof was covered with carvings and drawings, and the famous totem pole of the Northwest Indians was placed in front of the house, which displayed the history of this family or clan; on the top of the pillar was a family or tribal emblem. These pillars, sometimes reaching 9 meters in height, were clearly visible from afar, including from the sea, and served as a good guide to the terrain. And today the inhabitants of the Indian settlements of the northwest lead active life, showing interest in professional pursuits and crafts and the whole way of life of their great ancestors.

Teepee is often confused with a wigwam. In fact, a wigwam is quite an ordinary hut. On a wooden frame, covered with hay, straw, branches, etc. Unlike the tipi, the wigwam is round in shape:

wigwams

dwelling wigwam at American Indians refers to ritual for purification and rebirth and represents the body of the Great Spirit. Its rounded shape personifies the world as a whole, steam is the visible image of the Great Spirit, performing a cleansing and spiritual transformation. Exit to White light out of this dark room means to leave behind all that is impure. The chimney provides access to Heaven and an entrance for spiritual power.

Tipi(in the Sioux language - thipi, means any dwelling) - the commonly accepted name for the traditional portable dwelling of the nomadic Great Plains Indians with a hearth located inside (in the center). This type of dwelling was also used by the hill tribes of the Far West.
The tipi is in the form of a straight or slightly inclined back cone or pyramid on a frame of poles, with a cover sewn from treated skins of bison or deer. Later, with the development of trade with Europeans, lighter canvas was more often used. At the top is a smoke hole.

The entrance to the tipi is always located on the east side, which has its own poetic explanation. "This is for this," say the Blackfoot Indians, "so that when you leave the tipi in the morning, the first thing to do is to thank the sun."

RULES OF CONDUCT IN TIPI.

Men were supposed to be in the northern part of the tipi, women in the south. In tipis, it is customary to move clockwise (according to the sun). Guests, especially those who came to the dwelling for the first time, were to be accommodated in the women's section.

Passing between the central hearth and someone else was considered indecent, since it was believed that in this way a person breaks the connection between those present and the hearth. In order to get to their place, people, if possible, had to pass behind the backs of those sitting (men to the right of the entrance, women, respectively, to the left).

It was forbidden to go behind the back of the tipi, which meant passing behind the altar, in many tribes it was believed that only the owner of the tipi had the right to go behind the altar. There were no special rituals for leaving the tipi, if a person wanted to leave - he could do it right away without unnecessary ceremonies, but then he could be punished for not participating in important meetings.

how to set up a crowe tipi

WHAT WHERE IN THE TIPI

The first tips were made from buffalo skins. They were small, since the dogs could not carry large, heavy tires of tents during migrations. With the advent of the horse, the size of the tipi increased, but with the second half of XIX century, the Indians began to use for tires and tarpaulins.

The tipi device is perfect and well thought out. Inside the dwelling, a lining was tied to the poles - a wide strip sewn from leather or fabric that reached the ground, which protected against drafts on the floor and created traction in the upper part of the tent. In large tipis, they arranged an ozan - a kind of ceiling made of leather or fabric that retained heat. It did not completely block the space above the fire - there was a way for the smoke to escape through the top. Ozan was also used as a mezzanine - for storing things.

The entrance was closed from the outside with a "door" - a piece of leather, sometimes stretched over an oval frame of rods. Inside the doorway was hung with a kind of curtain. The space in a large tipi was sometimes blocked off with skins, creating a semblance of rooms, or even a small tipi was placed inside, for example, for a young family, since the spouse; according to custom, he should not talk or even see his wife's parents. The outer cover of the tipi had two flaps at the top, which closed or unfolded depending on the wind. From below, the tire was not pressed tightly to the ground, but was attached with pegs so that there were gaps for traction. In hot weather, the pegs were taken out, and the tire was lifted up for better air circulation.

The frame of the tent was 12 or more poles, depending on the size of the tipi, plus two poles for flaps. The poles were placed on a support tripod. The rope that tied the tripod was connected to an anchor peg that stuck into the center of the floor. The hearth was arranged, slightly retreating from the center - closer to the entrance, which always looked east. Most place of honor the tipi was opposite the entrance. An altar was arranged between this place and the hearth. The floor was covered with skins or blankets, beds and chairs were made from small poles and rods, covering them with skins. Pillows were sewn from leather, stuffed with fur or fragrant grass.

Things and food were stored in rawhide boxes and in parflashes - large leather envelopes.

Plan of the Assiniboins large tipi device:

a) hearth; b) an altar; c) men; d) male guests; e) children; f) senior wife; g) grandmother; h) female relatives and guests; i) the owner's wife; j) grandfather or uncle; k) things; l) products; m) dishes; o) meat dryer; n) firewood;

For a fire, the Indians used, in addition to wood, dry bison droppings - it burned well and gave a lot of heat.

When camp was set up, the teepee was usually arranged in a circle, leaving a passage on the east side. Tipi were assembled and disassembled by women who coped with this matter very quickly and deftly. The camp could be rolled up and ready to go in less than an hour.

When migrating, the Indians built from tipi poles peculiar horse drags - travois. Two poles were attached to the sides of the horse or on the back crosswise. At the bottom, the poles were connected by crossbars made of poles or pulled together with strips of leather, and things were placed on this frame or children and the sick were planted.

The entrance to the tipi is in the east, and at the far wall of the tipi, in the west, is the owner's place. The south side is the side of the mistress and children. North - male half. Guests of honor are usually located there.

People who are unfamiliar or who have come to the tipi for the first time do not go further than the owner’s place and therefore sit down immediately at the entrance (when entering the tipi, it is customary to move in the direction of the sun (clockwise), that is, first through the female half).

This division is explained by the fact that forces live in the north - the helpers of men, and in the south - female forces. People close to the owner, having come to visit, sit down in the north. The most honorable and respected host can give up his seat.

This is related to the meaning of the altar, that is, it is undesirable for a stranger to pass between you and the altar. When you have a lot of guests, then the newcomers pass behind the backs of those who are sitting, so as not to break their connection with the hearth.

HEART AND ALTAR

The first thing you do when you set up a tipi is to make a hearth for yourself. To do this, you find, if possible, a dozen or two stones and spread them around. If you want to make yourself an altar, then you need to find one large flat stone, which is placed in a circle opposite the sleeping place (the place of the owner of the tipi).

The hearth should be as spacious as possible (as far as the size of the tipi allows), because then there will be fewer problems with crumbling coals and the stones heated from the hearth will be closer to the sleeping places, which means it will be warmer.

It is better not to throw cigarette butts, garbage and other shields at him, because he can be offended and very real, at least, he will stink for the whole tipuhu. And in general it is nice when the fire is clean for many reasons. It is always good to feed the hearth, not only with firewood, but he also loves porridge.

In general, if you want to be friends with fire, then you need to share something good with it too. A good fire sacrifice is a pinch of tobacco if you smoke, fragrant herb, sage or juniper. When you live in a tipi long enough, you begin to treat the fire with respect, after all, there are many good things from it, and warmth and food ...

The stone closest to the entrance, if necessary, is moved aside so that someone we usually write about in green, could go in (and this is also useful when you drown with long poles or logs). In some Indian teepees, this stone was always removed.

The hearth is the center of life in the tipi.

ALTAR

It has many meanings. One of them is the place where your gifts to the fire are placed. You can put items on it that matter to you when you go to bed (this phrase caused everyone to laugh). A pipe is usually kept under the altar. This is a clean place, try to keep the surroundings clean too.

A simple camping altar is a flat stone that is placed in front of the host's place.

If you expect to live in the tipi for a long time, and therefore to communicate with all that lives in the tipi with you, then you can make yourself a large altar. It is done like this: a hill of sand is poured in front of a large altar stone (sand is cleaner than the earth, it can reflect the sun, so it suits best). Two small wooden horns are stuck along the edges, a thin stick is placed across. It can be decorated with patches of fabric, braid, the Indians preferred red and hung bird feathers and porcupine needles on it.

The altar is the gate.

Through them passes the road that connects you with invisible forces. They say there are a lot of them around.

The hill of sand symbolizes the earth.

The horns are two world trees, and the crossbar above them is the vault of heaven.

The altar stores everything that connects you with invisible forces, so talismans and objects of power are hung on it. Sage, wormwood, sweetgrass (sacred herbs of the Indians) are burned on it from time to time.

The figure below shows the arrangement of places and objects in a tipi.

This is how the places in the tips of the Indians were located. From this, the location of the rest of your decoration suggests itself. Firewood usually lies at the entrance on the male side (there was no feminism before, women were stronger and were engaged in fuel preparation, and firewood lay on the female side), and the kitchen (supplies, pots and other utensils) is located on the female half.

Things that you rarely use can be put behind the canopy. If you have a kind old woman available, and you are a real Indian, put the old woman in a wood corner (the Indians called it "old man's corner"). She will be fine there. It is believed that old people suffer from insomnia, and therefore, in cold weather, your old woman herself will throw firewood on the hearth all night. It will be warm for you and the old woman.

Cellophane in a tipuha is uncomfortable. To store food, it is better to use cloth bags hung on wooden hooks and crossbars tied between the poles on which your tipi stands, so that they hang higher above the ground and do not get damp.

If you are a rich Indian, it is more convenient to hang large bags on a wooden tripod (this is if you are a gullible Indian and are not afraid of the invasion of the Iroquois or other hungry tribes (see photo)). In the event that the mohawk is you, use other people's large bags to hang them on your tripod.

To boil water you need to hang it over the fire. To do this, you can do (or borrow a wooden tripod with a hook from a neighbor.

An option for small teepees where a tripod is inconvenient is a transverse pole tied over the hearth, as shown in the picture below. Try to make the hook hanging from this pole longer so that the rope does not burn out. Choose a rope made from natural materials, otherwise it will smoothly drain into your soup. In a large tipi, it is convenient to use such crossbars as dryers for blankets, clothes, herbs, berries and mushrooms. By the way, blankets in the morning would also be good to dry. Regardless of the weather, inside the tipi you will sweat while you sleep, the blankets will be damp, and you will find the smell of a Mongol warrior.

Beds. Living in a tipi, sometimes you have to lie down. To protect yourself, your things and your children from dampness and rheumatism, you can build beds-beds from dry thin poles. The poles are covered with grass. Some use spruce branches for this, but they probably do not feel sorry for the trees at all. It is better to use dry last year's herbs. You can take the grass that grew on the place of the tipi, it will be trampled anyway. In cold and rainy weather, it is very pleasant to put a stone wrapped in a rag and heated in the hearth at your feet, and a thick warm squaw on the side (therapeutic set "stone + squaw"). It is inconvenient to make beds in a small tipi - you can separate the bed with a long pole, fixed to the ground with pegs and laid along the bed closer to the hearth. Then you will not stomp on blankets and sleeping bags.

The bedding used by the Indians is actually difficult to make, but something can be explained. They made it from thin willow twigs, tying them as shown in the figure below. Its thin end was hung on a tripod at a convenient height. If necessary, they took it out into the street and used it as an armchair (they admired the sunset). There is an English name "backrest". This device is very convenient to roll up and weighs little.

What is around the tipi

It is better if around your tipi there are: a forest, a river, a blue sky, green grass and good neighbors, and not tin cans, bottles and cigarette butts; and certainly not scraps and emissions of the human body or sick minds. In short, it's clean where they don't litter.
In the forest not far from the parking lot and closer to the animal trails, they chose a place where scraps and leftovers of food were taken down. Such places were called "veikan". They didn’t dig a hole under the weikan, but on the contrary, they made it on a hill so that animals and birds were not afraid to approach it.

Commercial buildings.

From long poles (you can use the valve poles of a neighbor's tipi) make yourself a dryer for blankets. It's just a big tripod with crossbars between the poles.

Protective structures.

If you don't want to lose something, do this:
From two thin poles (a neighbor's tripod is suitable for a bowler hat), tie a cross and "close" the door with it from the outside. But do not forget to go inside, otherwise your squaw will eat your condensed milk. This kind of "lock" is often used when you leave the tipi for a while. A cross at the door means that the tenants of the tipi should not be disturbed. Such a sign is widely used by those who live in a tipi (not only by the Indians who invented it).

According to tradition, the trees growing near the tipi are decorated with colorful motley patches. The Indians often hung all sorts of gifts on them to appease the forces that kept the place. As long as you live near trees, you share the land with them. You will be pleased to return to them and see them beautiful

HOW THE TIPI IS SEW.

The basis is a rectangle of fabric measuring, for example, 4.5 x 9 meters. You can make larger tipis as long as you keep the proportions.

tipi fabric

It is desirable to choose a fabric that is not loose, waterproof, light and fireproof. It can be all types of tarpaulin, double thread, glued calico, or tent fabric. Best Option- This is of course a traditional canvas. Can use tent fabric

There is a suspicion that if all this does not burn, then it would be nice. It is better if the fabric does not stretch and does not react to heat and moisture.

It is better to sew with a thread with a harsh thread, with elements of synthetics.

If the fabric is narrow, then the rectangle is sewn from stripes. At the same time, it is desirable to overlap the seams on one side so that during rain water can flow along them. For thin fabrics, it is good to use a sail stitch. The seams can be waxed (grease with melted wax).

When the rectangle is already sewn, you can start cutting. It is most convenient to first draw a contour with chalk on a string 4.5 meters long. The end of the rope is fixed in the center larger side a rectangle and a semicircle is drawn in small, like a compass (Figure A). If you do not have enough fabric, then you can immediately sew the strips not with a rectangle, but with a semicircle with steps (Figure B).

************

The ratio of the sizes of the valve, fastener and entrance:

This ratio is different for different tribes, but on average it is 1:1:1 if the tipi is not too big (4-4.5 meters)

Eat various options. On pattern tipi Sioux (Sioux), and on - tipi Blackfoot (Blackfoot)

valve

To regulate the draft (to cover the chimney on the leeward side), the tipi has a valve.

In the forest and steppe, tipi valves are fastened in different ways - in a forest where there is no wind, the lower edges of the valves can hang freely or be fastened with a rope to the tire, as shown in and in the steppe so that the wind does not tear the valve, their lower ends are usually tied with a rope to a separate pole

The shape of the tipi as a whole depends on the shape of the valves.

Wu siu valve whole cut (cut as a whole, together with the tire) in the Blackfoot are sewn to the tipi separately (sewn valve). Tipi with whole-cut flaps have a shorter back wall and therefore it is slightly tilted back and stretched upwards. Tipi with sewn-on flaps looks like a smooth cone and has more space.

Here are examples of possible flap and flap pocket patterns:

One-piece valves were usually made 20 centimeters longer and narrower. In order to expand the one-piece valve, it is necessary to sew a wedge into it, cutting the valve from the top to about half (Figure 5)

A little about the ratio of valve sizes. You should try to avoid making valves too long - when the tipi is standing, then rain will drip into the hole between them and blow out heat. A freely dangling piece of fabric should be sewn onto the bottom of the valve and the articulation of the lower end of the valve with the canvas should be strengthened with a square (Fig. 6). Again, the width of the top of the valve should be related to the size of the tipi itself. For a tipi 4.5 x 9, an elbow width with a small one is suitable. Bottom part valve (hemmed piece) two palms wide suits many. The distance between the valves (including the tongue) is approximately 70 centimeters.

The saddle between the flaps should cover the entire strapping of the poles, but not increase the width of the flap with its size. A tongue is sewn into its middle for tying a tire. The saddle can be various shapes, but it is in this place that the strongest tension occurs, the tongue is sewn as firmly as possible so that it can withstand the weight of the entire tire. A rope is attached to it, which tipi is tied to a pole (attachment options in figure 7). The pockets on the upper corners of the flaps, on their outer side, are sewn no less firmly. You will insert poles into them for adjustment. Attach long ropes to the bottom corners of the flaps to pull the flaps. Instead of pockets, large holes can be made (as the Blackfoot and Crow did). Then, to the pole, retreating some distance from its end, the crossbar is tied and so it is inserted into the hole. The Indians hung scalps on the free end of the pole, and we, on mature reflection, decided that we were law-abiding Indians, and we would not do that.

Entrance

The entry height should be approximately at shoulder level, starting from the edge of the tire. And you need to cut it back 20 centimeters, which fall on the threshold. The depth of the cut is about 2 palms. Both halves are turned off with a strip of strong fabric under which a rope is inserted (see figure 8). When installing the tipi, the ends of the rope are tied so that the entrance is not too stretched. If the tire is made of coarse fabric, such as canvas, one rim is enough, without a rope.

The door can be made simple, or more confusing.

An example of a tangled door is Figure 10. It can be made either from a large hide or from a piece of fabric cut roughly to the shape of the hide. This is a trapezoidal door with a long tongue on the top, which is pinned to the cover of one of the wooden "fasteners" sticks. It is better to make the tongue as long as possible in order to hang the door higher - so it will be more convenient to recline. Another example of a tangled door is the oval willow-framed door you see on the right side of Figure 10.

On some tipis, no doors were made at all and the edges of the tire were simply wrapped one after the other.

Clasps.

Usually the holes for the fasteners are made two on each side of the tire so that the holes match up, otherwise the fabric will wrinkle. Sometimes they also make two holes on one side and one on the other. This makes it easier to pull off the tire, but the tension is weakened. The edge of the fabric with two holes is superimposed on top (no brainer).

Canopy.

The canopy is a very important thing in a tipuha. It basically keeps the heat in, the tire serves only to protect against rain and wind. It is better to make it from a dense fabric (if you are not too lazy to carry such a weight). Sometimes the canopy weighs as much as the entire tire. The space between the canopy and the tire is used for storage.

canopy straight . (Figure 12) Its height is about 150 cm. For reference, on a tipi with a diameter of 4.5 meters, about 12 meters of fabric is required per canopy. It is easy to make, but it eats up a lot of space inside the tipi. Along the upper edge, at an equal distance (about a meter), laces are tied for hanging on a rope stretched along the perimeter between the poles.

The canopy is trapezoidal. (Figure 13) Sewn from wide trapezoids. Therefore, unlike a straight canopy, it can be stretched strictly along the poles. Usually it is made of three sectors (as seen in figure 14) and in such a way that the middle sector overlaps the two extreme ones. For reference, a 5-meter tipi requires about 20 meters, and a 4.5-meter tipi requires about 18..

In any of these cases, the length of the canopy should be enough for you to wrap it at the entrance, and the more margin, the better. Try to find a light-colored fabric for the canopy so that the tipi is not dark.

Additional details

Azan - something like a visor, which is suspended above the bed so that warm air accumulates under it. Usually this is a piece of fabric in the shape of a semicircle, which, with its rounded part, is tied to a cord on which the canopy hangs. The fabric of the azan is tied with a margin so that you can plug it behind the curtain and close the gap - it will be warmer! The radius of the azan should be equal to the radius standing tipi.

Rain triangle. A small but very useful detail. During heavy rain the draft worsens, so the valves need to be opened wider, but then rain will pour in. In order for the head, however, to be completely dry (sorry, the boom-shankar confused), cut out an isosceles triangle from a dense waterproof fabric, of such a size that it can cover the hearth. The triangle is tied at the top, under the chimney, to three poles.

Tipi setting.

Tipi is placed on poles. You need from 9 to 20 poles, depending on the size of the tipi. The most common number of tipi poles with a diameter of 4.5-5 meters is twelve.

When choosing a place for a tipi, make sure that there are fewer trees nearby (after rain, water drips from them on the tire for a long time), so that the place is even, so that the tipi does not stand in a hollow. Grass can not be pulled out, because it will be quickly trampled anyway.

So, you found all the poles and dragged them to the parking lot. Do not forget to clean them from the bark (so that the head does not fall off) and knots (so that the tire does not tear, however).

First you need to tie a tripod - that's how the Indians did it

Further, at regular intervals, one after another, three poles are placed, starting from the eastern (door) pole, moving against the sun (counterclockwise). Then the next three poles on the other side of him, moving towards the sun. And the next two are also in the sun in the remaining gap, they are placed side by side, leaving room for the last pole with a tire (it will stand behind them).

All this time, the poles are tied in parallel for strength. This is done as follows: take the tail of the rope with which the tripod is tied, and one of your assistants, running in a circle, grabs the installed poles with a rope. In this case, a full turn is made for every three poles (and for the last two). It is more convenient to do this by twitching the rope a little when it covers the socket of the poles, then it slides to the knot with each jerk and fits closer to it.

Then the tire is tied to the last pole tightly and firmly and, moreover, so that the lower end of the pole protrudes beyond the edge of the tire by about a palm. All this economy rises and the pole is put in its place. If you have a heavy tire, it's best not to do it alone. To do this, it is better to assemble the tire with an accordion to it before raising the pole and then, when the pole is raised, two people take hold of the edges of the tire and begin to disperse, wrapping the frame around it so that the entrance is between the eastern tripod and pole number 4 in Figure 18. The tire is fastened with fasteners from top to bottom. After that, you can move the poles apart so that the fabric stretches and fits snugly around the frame.

Further along the perimeter of the tipi, ropes are tied, in the middle between each pair of poles (see figure 19). A small pebble, cone or something else round is taken, wrapped in a tire fabric, stepping back from its edge to the width of the palm and tied tightly with a rope as shown in fig. 19 . Additionally, two ties are tied on both sides of the entrance, near the poles. Now the tire is stuck to the ground with pegs.
Insert two short and light poles into the valve pockets to control them. Drive in three steps opposite the entrance a pole for pulling the valves and tie the ropes from the valves to it.

Canopy.
To begin with, a very long rope is taken. She is knitted to the poles inside the tipi (I wrote this just in case, you never know ...) at a height just below the height of the canopy.

It is better to start from a pole with a tire. A couple of sticks are slipped under each turn of the rope, these are small, but very sacred sticks, and if you do not attach any importance to them, then during the rain, booming streams of water will flow down the poles, falling with an eerie roar right onto your bed. See figure 20 for the tying method.

Then the canopy is hung, starting from the entrance and closing it with its first sector, so that the edges twitch like curtains. The bottom of the canopy is pressed down from the inside with heavy objects (stones, backpacks, tomahawks, guests, etc.)

hearth

Do not dig a hole under the hearth, otherwise you will have a pool. Surround it with large or small stones. It is best to place the hearth slightly off the center of the tipi towards the entrance. Now light the fire, if it smokes, then go back to page 1 and see how to sew a tipi correctly.
Reginald and Gladys Laubin

tipi coloring page

And here is the tipi, you live in it and you, apparently, feel good in it. And one day, going out into the street and looking around, you are seized by a vague longing - you want to do something.

Probably, nothing can be done with the environment, but the tipi tire can become completely different. This thing is quite difficult - keep in mind that most drawings sooner or later become boring if they are made ill-conceived and without any special meaning.

It seems to us that the theme of the picture on the tire should mean something for you in the first place, it's okay if others don't understand it. But in general, of course, this is a personal matter for everyone and his artistic and any other taste. Therefore, we will not particularly burden you with our thoughts on this topic (perhaps a little), but we will try to bring as many drawings as possible - samples of how others did it.

And yet there is traditional symbolism, many details of the painting meant something else, and if you are interested in learning about this, then we can tell you something. IN otherwise All this can be easily skipped.

On the lower edge of the tire, the inhabitant of the tipi drew something symbolizing the earth, say, a strip of mountains, a prairie, stones, in general, what he sees around him. Usually it was drawn in red, the color of the earth.

The top, respectively, meant the sky, often black, bottomless color. Sitting in such a teepee, you feel yourself in the center of the painted universe, and in most cases this was enough, and the painting of the teepee stopped (such a drawing can hardly get bored, right?). However, sometimes some other drawing was applied to the tipi tire, which was an image of something unusual that happened in a person’s life or appeared to him in a dream (which, from the point of view of an Indian, is the same thing).

The Indians generally paid a lot of attention to dreams. importance, sometimes a dream that a person had could change the course of his life, and therefore it was natural for him to depict such an important event on his house. So if someone painted on his tipi anyhow, just like that, then somehow they would not understand him.

In the mind, undistorted by various plastic bells and whistles, there is a very strong connection between the object and its image (it was the same with pagan idols and, later, Russian icons), therefore, depicting something tipi, you are something attract. Not in vain frequent plot drawings on tipi were symbolic images of guardians and helpers who appeared in a dream, usually in the form of animals with which a person had a close relationship before.

Painted Cheyenne Tipi Cover

It is better to start painting the tipi even before setting it up, so it will be more convenient to get to its upper part. The bottom can be painted when the tipi is already standing. Natural colors look more natural, from which the eyes do not get tired (unless, of course, you are a fan of techno music, then your eyes have not seen such horror ...).

The Indians painted tipi with colors that can be obtained in nature, so there are only a few traditional colors. But colors for them, like everything else, were full of meaning, so even when they got the opportunity to buy synthetic paints (oil or acrylic), they still chose a gamut that was understandable to them.

These are: red, yellow, white, blue or blue and black.

Red and yellow paint can be made from ocher, if it is crushed and mixed with fat, vegetable oil or just water. If you are lucky, petrified ocher can be found near rivers, wood ocher can be taken from under aspen or pine bark (which is very difficult to do), sometimes earthen ocher is thrown away along with the earth by moles, as fortunately for us happened here in Toksovo.

blue and white paint can be made from colored clay in the same way as red, black - from crushed coal, and blueberries can be used instead of blue paint. All these paints, even diluted with water, are perfectly eaten into the fabric, although the blue color easily fades in the sun.

Red is the color of Earth and Fire. This is the most sacred color, revered not only by the Indians, but also by many other peoples who connected their lives with the earth.

Yellow - this is the color of Stone, as well as Lightning, which, according to many beliefs, has a connection with stones, earth and fire.

White and blue - the color of Water or empty space - Air, transparent as water.

Black and blue colors are the Sky, the abyss.

Sometimes, in order to show the connection between sky and water, the sky was depicted in white or blue (after all, water falls from the sky). For the same reasons, water was sometimes depicted in black or blue.

Sometimes the blue color was replaced by green (when oil paints, green paint in nature is difficult to find) due to the fact that the ancient peoples did not have a difference between blue and green colors. Same with navy blue and black.

As for the drawings themselves, the most important thing to understand is one thing: it is best to see the beautiful in the simple. It seems to us that this applies not only to drawings, but also to everything else that we do and what we think about in our life (wow, cart!). Don't try to fill the space too much small details, emptiness will only emphasize the meaning of your drawing. We can advise you not to fall for a common mistake; when you spread the tipi on the ground and make a drawing, it seems to you much larger than it actually is, do not be afraid to paint over a large area with one color - when the tipi gets up, the perspective will change and everything will look different.

It is very long and probably not necessary to describe all the details and squiggles used by the Indians, but we can describe a few common simple symbols. Most often there are various triangles - they mean mountains and, accordingly, the earth. Small circles combined with them are stones. A widespread symbol that confused Christian missionaries was the cross, meaning the four sacred directions, the four cardinal points, or heavenly bodies. Of course, all these things are generalized, there were much more symbols and their various interpretations, so do not be surprised if you come across other information in other sources (we are the source? Wow, cool!)

If you use some traditional Indian elements in the coloring of your tipi, then you too will help this culture to survive in a natural way for it.

"Gringo Zone"

The mining village of Bonanza is lost in the Nicaraguan jungle among the hills in the west of the department of Celaya. It is about two hundred kilometers from the port city of Puerto Cabezas. Nearly five hours drive, "if everything goes well." In Celaya, you often hear this phrase when it comes to traveling around the department. The road—or rather, not a road, but a track broken by wheels, washed out by downpours, marked on the maps with a dotted line—goes through the jungle, crossing it from east to west.

The only transport, a shabby Toyota pickup truck, goes to Bonanza once a day. It departs from the central square of Puerto Cabezas. An elderly driver is in no hurry: there is no schedule, but what more people typed in a pickup truck, the better. We sit in the shade and smoke. Fifteen minutes later, a tall young Negro with a cap of curly coarse hair comes up. Then two burly female vendors appear, carrying round baskets filled with fruits and vegetables. Finally, the area is crossed by a junior lieutenant in full combat ammunition and a militia with a carbine. There are six of us. The driver squints at the sun. Then, without saying a word, he goes to the car, gets in and starts the engine. We also take places. Portly tradesmen squeeze into the cabin with difficulty, the men settle in the back. On the outskirts of the city, a pickup truck is stopped by a middle-aged, lean man with a child in his arms. It turns out that this is a Cuban volunteer doctor who went to Puerto Cabezas to negotiate about medicines for the hospital in Bonanza. The junior lieutenant, looking at the child, knocks on the cabin wall with his fist. Traders pretend that everything that happens does not concern them.

“Hey, senoritas, climb into the back!” the junior lieutenant shouts. Nothing, you’ll be shocked in the back, it’s useful for you ...

The traders shrillly scold for a long time in two voices - the meaning of their words boils down to the fact that “ new government Don't let every brat insult two respectable women! They have sons at his age! And if he thinks, since there is a machine gun in his hands, then everything is possible - he is mistaken! - but still give way. While the women are climbing out of the cockpit, the second lieutenant is talking to the Cuban.

“You see, she doesn’t want to part with me at all,” the doctor seems to apologize, nodding at the baby. The boy is thin, big-headed. - He calls him dad. We found him six months ago in a hut. The gang attacked the village, killed everyone. And he survived. For two weeks he sat alone in a hut among the corpses of his parents and brothers, until we found him. We then went around the villages and vaccinated children against polio. The little boy was dying of hunger. He's four years old, but he looks two. I nursed him for six months, barely saved him. And since then, he stuck to me, does not let go. And my trip is over. You'll have to take it with you. I have five in Cuba. Where there are five, there is also a sixth. Are you going to Cuba, Pablito? The boy nods happily, smiles, and clings even tighter to the doctor's shoulder.

We get to Bonanza in the evening. The road goes around a steep hill. This means that we are already in the village, and the road is not a road at all, but a street. To the right, below us, are the gaping gaps of drifts, workshops, cable-lift towers, mechanical dredges. Mountains of waste rock... Mines. Behind the hill, on another peak, it is like a mirage: a complex of modern cottages, mowed lawns, flower beds, a banana grove, a blue bowl of the pool.

“The Gringo Zone,” the Cuban doctor explains, catching my astonished glance.

I learn the details the next day, when one of the activists of the local committee of the FSLN, Arellano Savas, a sedate, thick-set and unhurried middle-aged miner, leads me through the mines.

“The manager of the mine, engineers and employees of the company lived here before the revolution,” Arellano says, gesturing at the cottages. All Americans, of course. That's why we called this place the "gringo zone". We were not allowed to go there, and they appeared in the village only when they went to the office. The company knew how to divide people into "clean" and "unclean".

“What company, Arellano?”

- Neptune Mining. This is the last one, and there were others here before. I started working for her in the fifties as a boy. My father was also a miner until he died. Probably my grandfather, but I don't remember him. Father said our family moved here from Matagalpa, so we are "Spaniards". And there are Miskitos, mestizos, blacks ... The company owned everything, even the air, even owned our life. The land on which we built our houses belonged to the company, the building materials also belonged, the company brought food to the village and sold it in its stores. The light in the houses, electricity is also the property of the company, as well as boats, and piers on the rivers, and in general any transport to go to Cabezas or Matagalpa ... Do you know who the manager was for us? God! He both punished and merciful. True, he rarely spared. He will not give bonds for products, so live as you want. Or refuse a referral for treatment. The hospital was also owned by the company. And you can't run away - you're in debt all around. And if you do escape, the National Guard will definitely find you and bring you back. They will still beat, or even shoot as a warning to the rest ...

“Yes, companion,” Arellano continued, sitting down on a stone by the side of the road. “Here, in the mines, every man let the revolution into his heart. As the company was kicked out, everyone sighed. They saw life. The mines are now state-owned, we work for ourselves. Imagine, there are no spare parts, many cars have stopped, because gringos do not supply us with parts. But we are working! And we live happily. The school was built, the hospital is now ours, we distribute the products fairly. In the "gringo zone" is located kindergarten, in the pool the kids swim, and in former club housed a library and a cinema.

Arellano and I descended the worn steps to the mine administration, and weary workers in miners' helmets, many with rifles behind their shoulders, rose to meet us. Another shift was returning from the mine. Their faces were black from the indestructible dust, covered in light streaks of sweat, but they made fun of each other, laughed merrily and contagiously. And Arellano also smiled through his thick mustache...

New Guinea

I never expected to meet anyone but Wilbert in Puerto Cabezas. From his rare letters that came to Managua, I knew that he was fighting in Nueva Segovia. And on a stuffy evening at the entrance to the city square, a short army sergeant held me by the elbow. He adjusted his glasses with a familiar gesture, smiled a familiar smile...

— Wilbert! What fates?!

- Transferred. And how did you end up here?

- On business...

Then we remembered for a long time the journey with the “bibliobus”, the guys, and that black night on the road that led from New Guinea to the village of Jerusalem ...

New Guinea is south of the Celaya department. Rama Indians live there, plow the land around tiny and rare villages, graze herds on the plains. The mountains in the south of Celaya are low, with flat peaks, as if cut off by a giant knife. They are thrown in randomly, like Scythian burial mounds, and therefore seem superfluous on the green, even tabletop of the steppe, where the grasses hide the horseman with his head. Cattle-breeding paradise, New Guinea ... I went there in April 1984 with students of the capital's technical school "Maestro Gabriel".

My acquaintance with these guys began a long time ago. Back in 1983, students found an old rusty Volkswagen minibus in a car dump on the outskirts of Managua. On their hands through the whole city they dragged this junk to the workshop of the technical school. It is difficult, almost impossible, to get spare parts in Nicaragua, which is in the grip of a blockade. But - they got it, repaired it, then covered it yellow paint and wrote on the sides: "Youth Bus - Library." Since then, the "bibliobus" began to run through the most remote cooperatives and villages, through student production teams that harvested cotton and coffee. And on one of the flights, the students took me with them.

New Guinea - a dusty and noisy town - comes to life with the first rays of the sun. When the "bibliobus", rattling and bouncing on the potholes, rolled into the winding streets, roosters in New Guinea were roaring and selflessly crowing. At the zonal headquarters of the Sandinista Youth, columns of student production teams were formed, leaving to collect coffee. In the yard, at a small rickety table, a border guard sergeant sat with sleepy eyes, moving his lips as he wrote down in a soiled notebook the numbers of machine guns issued to students, the number of ammunition and grenades.

While Wilbert was jostling in the headquarters, figuring out the route, Gustavo and Mario stood in line for weapons. The sergeant looked at them in bewilderment.

Are you from the brigade?

“No…” the guys hesitated, looking at each other.

The sergeant, again buried in his notebook, silently waved his palm from top to bottom, as if cutting them off from the whole line. Clear. Talking to him is useless: an order is an order. It is not known how everything would have turned out if Lieutenant Umberto Corea, the head of the district's state security, had not appeared at the table.

“Give them four machine guns with spare magazines, sergeant,” he said in a calm and even voice. “These are the guys from the Bibliobus. Did not recognize?

And then, turning to Wilbert, who had come to the rescue, he quietly said:

— The area is now restless. Again the Traitor's thugs stirred. Yesterday ours ran into an ambush, seven were killed. Your route is difficult, you will go to state farms, right? So, Wilbert, I allow movement only during the day. In the farms, of course, our patrols, and students post their posts, but there can be surprises on the roads ...

All day long we drove through the villages that lined the roads. Everywhere around the bus, a crowd gathered in a matter of minutes: peasants who had recently learned to read and write, students, women with children; the little ones stared curiously at the sight that had never been seen before. Gustavo, Mario, Hugo, Wilbert handed out books, explained, told...

In the evening, seven kilometers from the village with the biblical name Jerusalem, which is rare for these places, the minibus got up. A lean, agile, short driver, Carlos, looking into the engine, waved his hand in dismay: two hours to repair. From the height of his thirty-six years, he looked at "these boys" patronizingly and swore that he was going with them to last time. Nevertheless, Carlos has not yet missed a single trip - and there were more than thirty of them - without, of course, receiving a centavo for this.

It got dark quickly. The sunset poured pure gold across the pale sky. The shadows vanished, and the round fruits of the wild oranges became like yellow lanterns hung in the dark foliage. Wilbert and Mario, hanging their machine guns on their chests, went to the right of the road, Hugo and Gustavo to the left: outposts, just in case. I illuminated Carlos with a portable lamp, who, having climbed under the bus, was poking around in the engine.

Suddenly, from the left, quite close, bursts of machine-gun fire rang out. Somos! One, second line. Then the machine guns barked excitedly, filling the air with a booming thud and ringing. Mario ran across the road. He did not even look in our direction and disappeared into the thick bushes that approached the roadside. Then Wilbert appeared.

"Soon?" he asked, gasping for air.

"I'm trying," breathed Carlos, without interrupting his work.

“Give the horn,” and Wilbert disappeared into the bushes again.

Shooting rolled, Satanel, raged. Finally, Carlos got out from under the car and jumped into the cab with one jump. With a trembling hand, he turned the ignition key and the engine came to life. In joyful excitement, Carlos hit the horn with force - the car roared with an unexpectedly powerful bass.

“Drive!” Vilbert ordered in a whisper, while the guys on the move, sending fiery streams of tracks into the dark wall of the bushes, jumped into the open door of the “bibliobus”.

And Carlos, turning off the headlights, drove the bus along the ribbon of the road, barely visible in the night. To Jerusalem.

There were also books...

Return of Nara Wilson

Tashba-Pri, translated from the Miskito language, means "free land", or "land of free people". In February 1982, the revolutionary government was forced to resettle the Miskito Indians from the border river Coco to the specially built villages of Tashba-Pri... Endless raids by gangs from Honduras, murders, hijackings of people across the cordon, robberies - all this put the Indians on the brink of despair. Intimidated by the counter-revolutionaries, who often turned out to be relatives or godfathers, the Indians became more and more distant from the revolution, closed in on themselves, and even fled wherever they looked.

By relocating the Indians from the war zone deep into the department, the government not only built them houses and schools, churches and first-aid posts, but also allocated communal lands. A year later, many of those who had once left the Contras returned to their families in Tashba-Pri. The Sandinista government announced an amnesty for the Miskito Indians who were not involved in crimes against the people.

So Nar Wilson, an Indian whom I met in the village of Sumubila, returned to his sons.

When Nar Wilson got married, he decided to leave the community. No, this did not mean at all that he did not like life in the village of Tara. It’s just that Nar Wilson was already a serious person in those years, and therefore he reasoned that it was not worth huddling with his father and brothers under the same roof. I wanted to have a home - my own home, my own.

And Nar went along with his wife about ten kilometers down the Coco River, which separates Nicaragua from Honduras. There, in deserted, deserted places, in the selva, on a patch of land reclaimed from the jungle, he set up his house. Put firmly, for years. As it should be, he dug piles of strong ceiba trunks deep into the damp clay earth, made a flooring of red kaoba boards on them, and only then erected four walls, covering them with wide leaves of wild bananas. It was twenty-five winters ago. Twenty-five times Coco's water swelled from showers, approaching the very threshold, and the house stood as if it had been built only yesterday. Only the piles turned gray from moisture and the sun and the steps were polished to a shine.

Everything in the world is subject to time. Nar Wilson himself has also changed. Then he was eighteenth, now he is over forty. It resounded in the shoulders, the palms became wide and hardened, the temples turned gray, time threw a network of wrinkles on the swarthy face. Life flowed like a river in summer - smoothly, measuredly and unhurriedly.

Nar fished, hunted, did some smuggling. He did not like smuggling, but what was to be done? After walking through the woods American companies, there is very little game left. The manatee disappeared from the mouth of Koko, and even then one had to run after the wild boar.

Children were born, grew up, matured. The elders, having married, put their houses nearby, behind the bend of the coast, on a green low cape. The grandchildren are gone. So they lived all around, not noticing the time. Years were distinguished only by rich catches and outbreaks of the number of animals in the selva. It seemed like nothing was happening in the world. News from the west, from the Pacific coast, came rarely, and even more rarely did new people come from there.

From childhood, Nar remembered an important fat sergeant, head of the border guard post in Tara, to whom his father paid a weekly bribe for smuggling. Then just as carefully began to pay her and Nar. It was military power. The venerable Peter Bond personified spiritual authority. Priest Bond, like the sergeant, has lived in the village since time immemorial. He baptized and instructed Nara, then Nara's children, grandchildren...

Change came unexpectedly. Suddenly the sergeant disappeared. He was said to have escaped to Honduras by sailing across Coco in a boat. And Bond began to tell strange things in sermons about some Sandinistas who want to deprive all Indians of democracy. Then Peter Bond completely closed the church, saying that the Sandinistas forbid praying to God. Then everyone was outraged. How is it that no one has seen them, these Sandinistas, and they no longer allow people to go to church! The elderly were especially unhappy. And when the Sandinistas appeared in the district, they met them unfriendly, in silence. Most of the Sandinistas turned out to be young guys from the west, "Spaniards". The guys were hot, they gathered rallies, they talked about the revolution, about imperialism. But few understood them.

Gradually the storm of events subsided. Instead of the former sergeant in Tara, another one appeared - Sandinista. He did not take bribes and did not allow smuggling, which caused the anger of many. The Venerable Bond reopened the church. Nar was already beginning to think that life would slowly return to its former course, but his hopes were not justified. More and more often, Pedro, the Sandinista boss from Tara, began to look into Wilson's house. Starting a conversation from afar, he each time ended with the same thing - he convinced Nara to create a cooperative. Like, everything will be as before and Nar will be able to grow rice, bananas, fish, but not alone, but together with other peasants. In the words of Sergeant Nar Wilson felt sense and truth: indeed, he, his older sons and neighbors, working together, could live better and without smuggling. But, cautious, Nar kept silent, pretended that he did not understand everything. Pedro spoke Spanish, which the Nar actually knew very poorly.

Beginning in May 1981, people from the other side of the border began to visit Nara. There were among them Miskito Honduran and Nicaraguan, there were also "Spaniards". They crossed the river at night, stayed in his house for several days, taking advantage of the host's hospitality. For Nar is a Miskito, and a Miskito cannot drive a man away from his hearth, whoever he may be. The aliens were a dangerous people, although they spoke their native Naru language. They did not part with their weapons, cursed the Sandinistas and persuaded Nara to go with them beyond the cordon. He remained silent, although he did not find any truth or meaning in their words.

One day in November, when, after long rains, the selva was saturated with moisture like a sponge in the sea, a large detachment landed at Nara's house, about a hundred people, who sailed from Honduras in ten large boats. Among them, Nar saw his older brother William and son-in-law, the husband of his sister Marlene. The rest were unknown to him. Nara was asked to lead a detachment overland to the village of Tara. Nar refused for a long time, but William, after talking with the commander, promised that later he would be immediately allowed to return home and left alone.

The attack on the village was short-lived. Half an hour of skirmishing, and the detachment broke into the narrow streets of Tara. Only then did Nar understand what he had done, and realized that there would be no return to his former life. The border guards were killed, Sergeant Pedro was hacked to death with a machete. They raped and then shot a young teacher who had recently arrived in the village from Managua.

The Somosians returned to the boats, excited, inflamed with success. William walked next to Nar, was silent for a long time, and then finally said:

Nar just shook his head. He didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't want to leave my house, leave my boat, leave my family. However, I had to. Before loading, the leader of the detachment said, screwing up his eyes angrily: "Come with us, Indian." The ringleader was not a Miskito, nor was he a Nicaraguan. That's why he said it as if he had given an order: "Come with us, Indian." Nar shook his head again, without uttering a sound. The ringleader, grinning, pointed at him, and two bandits stuck their rifle muzzles into Nar's chest. The Indian shook his head for the third time. The leader began to shout and wave his arms. Nar stood silently. Finally, the ringleader, yelling, shook his head - three of his men dragged Nara's wife and children out of the house, put them with their backs to the river, moved away and prepared to shoot. “Will you go now, Indian?” the leader asked and grinned again. Nar still silently wandered along the sand to the boats. Behind him, the bandits pushed a woman and children with rifle butts.

As they crossed the river, Nar stood at the stern, facing the Nicaraguan shore, and, holding back the sobs that rose in his throat, watched his house burn. Crimson reflections flickered across the water.

“Why did you set it on fire?” Nar asked in a whisper, without taking his eyes off the fire.

“And so that you don’t pull back,” someone’s mocking voice answered from the darkness.

In Honduras, Nara was placed in a training camp, the family lived nearby in the village. In the Nar camp, under the leadership of Honduran officers and two Yankees, he was engaged in military affairs: he crawled, shot, threw grenades, studied the machine gun. Three months later, he was assigned to a group of three hundred people and sent to Nicaragua to kill. For several weeks they hid in the jungle, set up ambushes on the roads, attacked villages, and units of the Sandinista army. And all this time Nara did not leave the idea of ​​escaping. But how? After all, there, behind Coco, is a family.

He managed to escape only a year after that fateful November night for him. By that time, his wife had died, and Nara was allowed to go to the children more often. On one of those days they left five of them - Nar and four sons. For several days they wandered through the selva, confusing their tracks, leaving the Hondurans and the Somos. Once I had to shoot. But thanks to the Americans and other instructors - they taught me. Nar used to be a good shooter, but now he had in his hands not a hunting shotgun, but a machine gun. In a shootout, he knocked down two, the rest fell behind.

Then Nar with his sons sailed on the raft Koko and came to Tara. But the village was empty. Tara died out, many houses were scorched, from others only black firebrands remained. The five fugitives were met by an army patrol. Nara was sent to Puerto Cabezas, from there to Managua. Five years of imprisonment, determined by the court, did not seem excessive to Naru. He understood that he deserved more for what he managed to do on the soil of Nicaragua. He served only a few months - an amnesty arrived in time. What to do in the wild, where to go? Naru was advised to leave for Celaya, in Tashba-Pri. They said that his sons also live there, with whom he came from Honduras.

Nar walked along Sumubil and could not believe his eyes. The Indians have good houses, a school, a first-aid post on the hill. Music rushes from the wide open doors - it's the radios on, the kids are playing in the clearing in front of the garden. And most importantly - many in the village with weapons. But after all, in Honduras, he was told that the Sandinistas oppressed the Indians, took away their children and wives, the chiefs divided among themselves the property and lands of the Miskito ... So, they lied? It turns out so. It turns out that the Indians do not need the protection of the Somos at all. On the contrary, they themselves took up arms in order to defend themselves from these "defenders", from him, Nara ...

I met Nara on the outskirts of Sumubila, at the very edge of the jungle. He dug deep holes in the clayey, damp earth. Thick white ceib trunks lay nearby.

“I thought, I’ll settle down separately,” he said, sitting down on the logs and lighting a cigarette. “Soon another son will leave me - he’s thought of getting married.” I will stay with the three younger ones, I will send them to school, let them study. I will feed you. I will join the cooperative. As soon as I put up a new house...” And he affectionately stroked the slightly damp, still living trunks with his broad palm...