Wigwam

A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ᐧᐄᑭᐧᐋᒻ)[1] is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events.

Mary Rowlandson uses the term wigwam in reference to the dwelling places of Indigenous people that she stayed with while in their captivity during King Philip's War in 1675.

When a dwelling reached the end of its practical life it was simply burned, and a replacement erected in its place in about a day's time.

Below is a description of Chiricahua wickiups recorded by anthropologist Morris Opler: The home in which the family lives is made by the men and is ordinarily a circular, dome-shaped brush dwelling, with the floor at ground level.

To build it, long fresh poles of oak or willow are driven into the ground or placed in holes made with a digging stick.

For waterproofing, pieces of hide are thrown over the outer hatching, and in rainy weather, if a fire is not needed, even the smoke hole is covered.

The interior is lined with brush and grass beds over which robes are spread....[3] The woman not only makes the furnishings of the home but is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the dwelling itself and for the arrangement of everything in it.

Pieces of old clothing or plastic sheet, woven mats (traditionally made of grass), or whatever material is available will be used to cover the aqal's roof.

In terms of construction, purpose and longevity, it represents a close equivalent to a North American native wigwam.

Most goahti dwellings consisted of portable wooden poles, covered on the outside with either timber or peat moss, in lieu of walls.

This differentiated them from the other type of Sámi dwelling, the more temporary and tent-like lavvu, covered with skins or fabrics and somewhat similar to tipis.

Though some of these Siberian native dwellings are more tent-like, reminiscent of Plains Indians' tipis or of the Sámi lavvu, other forms of chum are more permanent in nature.

The more permanent forms of chum are very similar in construction to the timber or peat moss covered goahti dwellings of the Sámi, or the wigwams of the Native American cultures of the Eastern Woodlands and northern parts of North America.