Closed Captions Audio Described

Creek elders from Rocky Boy reservation discuss the spiritual and practical significance of tipi construction and design. The speakers share personal experiences learning tipi-making from family members, explain how tipi poles and features represent a woman protecting her family, and describe ceremonies and medicines historically associated with tipis. They emphasize the importance of teaching youth these cultural practices through hands-on learning and respect for traditional knowledge.

Transcript

0:03 little bit about this tent that you are in by the elderly women of the Rocky Boy reservation these ladies are each members of the chipa creek cultural committee if you would please help me welcome Louis stump and the rest of the group to the tent many
0:28 voices good afternoon can you hear me I'd like to welcome everybody that came for our presentation here today uh I was asked a while back to present the significance of the Tepe and its construction but I wanted to give a little background of how I was asked I
0:52 was I'm also a teepe maker and the teps that you see out in the camp were constructed by some of our student students we had a total of 20 tents that were made uh prior to this uh encampment and we had a total of 20 students that came and uh constructed the TPS themselves and they learned
1:16 pretty fast we did that within two weeks and those are some of the TPS that you did set up they that you see setup in the campground we didn't get some of the students to come in in I guess they had health problems so forth and I believe we didn't put up about six teps that we constructed during this uh
1:41 Workshop I've been holding uh TP making workshops throughout the year uh this is about the third one that I've held this year and sometimes I'm asked to go to other reservations to do the making of the teps and how I got the the skill that I have in learning how to
2:03 make teepees comes from a long line of my elderly women her mother used to be uh one of the teepee makers in our family she showed my mother how to make a teepee and all the things that went along with learning how to make a
2:24 teepee uh so I learned from my mother as well the very first hepe I constructed was when my parents were away and they were elected to be on the celebration committee that year so I knew I had to make something for them so they could have their giveaway and I wanted to make make them a tepee before
2:48 they came home they used to go out and travel to the different powow because they were interested in hand games and after learning so many times from my mother I decided deed I would construct my first tape because they were still out traveling and Pa was coming up and my dad was put on as a camp boss like we had a camp boss here
3:12 uh we uh we also uh did the encampment on the 15th prior to the people coming in here but they were some of them were already camped here when we did arrive and uh what I told in our first planning meeting was that we would have a traditional encampment take
3:34 place a long time ago our uh ancestors when they moved from site to site they used to have camp criers and Scouts that would go ahead and look for a good camping ground and that's what we uh the significance of that first camping day was was to look for a good campsite and we had a camp crier who was Lloyd tops
3:58 guy I don't know if he's here today but he was our camp crier and we got ready at the beginning of the gate over there and we walked in we were going to have travys but those horses are modern too they were skittish they wouldn't carry our travo so we banded that idea and we had writers riding and we also had the
4:23 Walkers and then we had Videl and Ruby lead the uh the group and we had uh Videl waiting over here and after we arrived here we smudged ourselves meaning that you know when you use Sage seed grass or or uh uh Cedar in fact he used that
4:47 mixture and he s he uh smudged us all as we were walking in after we uh did that uh Jason went around blessing the land that we were going to camp on those are the things that our ancestors used to do and I thought it would be a great idea for us to come back and do that and
5:10 then we had a little ceremony there where they prayed to bless the land and all the people that were going to be here and I'm grateful for that you know all the campers were all doing fine and prayers were said for all the families of Rocky Boy and so that took place and I'm really glad that happened and back
5:32 to how I learned from my mother I made a lot of mistakes she used to have me rip and she did hold a class at the college at one time and that's what they called her rip rip because she'd make all her students rip their teepees until they did it right there were men in some of those classes and that's who the ones
5:56 they were Nick her with but uh that's how I learned too by making mistakes and going through it that's how we teach our young and uh when you make a mistake you know they don't they don't holler at you they just tell you do it over you got to do it right and that's how I was raised I had to do everything right or else I had to
6:21 even moxin when I made moxin if I didn't do them right my grandmother she'd make me rip them I'd have to sew them the right way and that's how we were trained these are my all my aunts up here that are up here that's my Auntie married to my uncle over there and this is uh Dorothy small she's that's Lydia chiefstick over there
6:45 she's married to my uncle John chiefstick this is Dorothy small who was married to my Uncle Andrew small and this is Teresa tindo she's my aunt where blood relations are uh my grand grandmother and her mother were sisters as well as rubies Pearl is also my auntie from my
7:07 grandfather's side our training bird and John lson her father is our training bird and my grandfather is John Wilson so she's my auntie and Ruby gopher over here is a blood relative she was also one of the sisters uh she was uh that was her mother uh
7:32 my grandma's sister they were all sisters they used to do crazy things I just have to tell this one little story about them one time they were going into town all three sisters they wanted to go buy donuts at the bakery and that Bakery uh there they hired a new kid there the real owner knew knew my grandmothers they didn't speak good English but the
7:56 first one says I want 1,000 donuts and the second one said I want 2,000 Donuts the third one said 3,000 Donuts many grandkids she said so this kid that was newly hired really got frustrated and ran back and went called his boss there's ladies Here Wanting about 6,000
8:20 Donuts but anyway you know we like to tell jokes that's uh that's the nature of the chipo Cree teasing and joking telling stories so I thought I'd throw that in my uh my mother did uh a lot for me by teaching me how to construct a teepee because since then I've been busy sewing
8:43 and selling teps I just sold my Tepe here for 650 just the teepee itself not the poles I was kind of Stingy on my poles I just bought them no it's it's hard to get Tepe poles up here but uh I'm I'm going to let the ladies just tell you the significance of the tepes you know every part of the
9:05 teepe that resembles a woman but they're going to tell their part and I don't have to tell that because it's going to come from the Elders of what I learned from my mother my grandparents and all the other women that I've worked with it's really a there's a lot of stories I learned from many even my grandfathers I
9:28 got a chance to work work with them when they were in the bilingual program and research program in the 70s they shared a lot of stories with me even songs and when we're done here we're going to sing a song it's called the Thankful Song similar to the one that some of you heard yesterday but it's uh it's the women's version of what we're going to
9:52 sing when we're done here talking about the Tepe so first of all I'd like to uh introduce Ruby gopher she's my auntie niga okay I guess I have to translate
10:10 for her
10:34 she said I didn't really learn a lot about the significance of a teepe but what I did here she said I know that Tepe means shelter and protection for our people when we live in that when we lived in that Tepe that's what it resembled my name is Perl
10:58 witford I want to talk about uh painting the Tepe I was the Curiosity kid which we all do when we were kids anyway um my grandma was painting a TP same time I was watching her she had this green
11:23 paint she had it on the ground sprit that cannabis I said I said Grandma what are you doing or what are you making she told me a and told me to sit down like she gave me this brush he said look
11:45 around look around see what do you see what do you see out there draw it I see that son I said Grandma I want to the other one I yellow paint she knew I see something so she I traded her that green paint to a
12:09 yellow so I wrote a I painted a sun after I done that she was singing she said sing with me and I did you know grandchild he said um things like this is spiritual anything that you see out there the
12:32 colors of it day and night and stars the clouds the air the land anything that you see even the grass you sing you pray to him we use a lot of that the green
12:56 grass he said near future my grand Char said you're going to be talking you're going to kind of explain yourself what how you learned this and I'm not going to go full detail what I was taught and then she come out she went to the T other TP she said wait sit don't move sit there and I waited for I got done
13:21 painting the sun she said wait a B I sat there and I was watching here he un bundled her was piped and she had her R and she uh facing that son she was singing then you sing with me said I want you to pick up the song she said
13:44 it's yours I give you this it's yours you earn it in your future you're going to use this I said the day I didn't even try I'm kind of scared because I got too many kids too many children grandchildren my dad I talked to my dad about it well don't be afraid my
14:07 girl he well give it to you in near future maybe you'll you'll see something maybe you'll have dream we tell you to do it go ahead it's yours don't be afraid my girl it's yours you earned it your grandma gave it to you it's something that something good for you to keep you
14:30 protect it's a home like she said protection so I'm not going to go full detail and I'm going stop right there I'm pass the mic to my cousin Teresa my name is Teresa tendo my name is tresa
14:54 tendoy and I'm not a really a good uh English speaker here maybe I'll be talking talking like my grandmother's and that was going to try to buy that [Laughter] Donuts I'm going to talk about this Tepe that much as I used to hear but I'm not going to really uh come to details about it but I'm just going to tell this
15:17 little story what I the old ladies used to tell us about this Tepe when they start putting it up they dye them Tepe poles and they set it uh the T and um the pins and what they used to tell us this is like a woman this is their ribs that t poles in the door when they uh have a baby
15:41 birth and that's what they used to tell us about it and that TP means a lot to us it's like that the way the old people used to tell us and these other ladies maybe they hear some better ones like that cuz they they had old people too showing them what how the the Tepe meant
16:04 to the them so maybe they have better story to tell about it and then flaps it is like the arm that's what they used to tell us and I am not going to say really real in details what they used to tell us that that that Tepe CU our that Tepe
16:27 means a lot to us that's how come I even tell my grandkids that to respect that even some of them tepes they you the one she was talking about them pained tepes some some of them tepes you couldn't um just uh peek out you have to go in and don't be coming peeking out cuz
16:51 they're they're really uh something to them that they used to tell us even some of that one my grandfather had one of those leftand boy he used to tell his wife to have something ready tea or something even bread if they didn't have anything to eat that teepe meant this like uh Warriors when they used to go around he
17:14 said that Tepe they were they had um that Tepe was uh painted like that horses and the men and they have somebody had to eat if they go in there even drink tea or something that's how come these used to tell his wife to have everything ready there even uh tea cuz long time ago they didn't have all kinds
17:36 of things to eat but he said at least have tea and bandic or something to feed the people that comes here the people didn't go out like that till I till they have something there I guess that's what it meant that t there and that's all I could say B hand is back to
17:58 my uh my name is Dorothy small can you hear me out there I'm the one that knows everything that's all they tell me but I don't believe it but I don't know I don't know how to make a Tepe cuz I was taught how to uh he told me to go learn this how to make a
18:23 Tepe uh my sister-in-law was seal so I went over there trying to learn how to make Tepe and I just make mistakes all the time finally she said you're no good he said you can learn nothing she said so just stay over there on one side and seow these things he said you I can't teach you nothing you're too old he said to learn anything
18:45 she sit over there he said so and don't you speak more while I'm doing all these things at the same time she was given instruction uh these there were young girls that came up from the high uh from the school that time and uh I don't I don't know how to make a TP but the things I'm going to talk
19:07 about is uh kind of religious ones but I'm just going to tell here and there because I wasn't given a tobacco to tell this thing these things that we learned from our uh grandparents and stuff like that we had a painted T while my grandparents was alive Al but
19:30 us woman we wasn't allowed us girls wasn't allowed to stay in that Tepe that's how sacred that tep was it was painted uh I'll just turn it briefly it was painted with a a buffalo all around this Tepe the only ones I could stay there was uh our our men folks and our boys live there these girls don't know that story in fact I got if I not know I was going
19:55 to speak for this thing I would bring that picture where my father father my mother my grandparents were standing around this Tepe for the painted one they used to tell us when I when we're gone he said this is the one that's going to carry you going to protect you especially those 12 pegs all around he said each one of
20:17 those things is going to protect you
20:37 my grandparents used to Spring just twice a year they used to do that and we had that TP when my grandfather
20:58 died my uncle was told to put up that t after my Grandpa died and my grandma finally when my grandma died my uncle still had that t it was all tied up without even
21:21 telling us what he was going to do not even to form us CU that t was in a good shape without telling us about our uh that painting T he put it away someplace give me that and we was really you know the ones who I was growing up we were sorry he done that because that was supposed to carry us on to protect
21:45 us that t was you know uh my mother's uh Cas was you know that was protect them that t and but if you want to learn more about the certain things because art reading bird told us a different things about each one of those poles represent a different they have songs each one of those the ones that are sometimes the I
22:09 seen I seen sometimes the 14 16 hes you know the one that to have each one of those got songs even those pigs got songs that's what we was told so if you want to learn more you have to go through a ritual way like you know like myself I don't smoke so I prefer candy
22:32 and it's really important that you know to learn to tell you this kids if I have known this uh what's going to happen today I could have brought that picture you know where the pain stuff that was set up and everything and to this day my I my uncle I wanted to find out Auntie making to us that but I never get to talk to him when
22:56 he comes here he goes to different plac instead of coming to us he goes stay someplace else now he's getting old over there in Idaho and I can't even get up there I can't even hardly get up for H for my sister I never see H you know it's really bad when your uh handicap and uh to take you any place sometimes
23:20 they're shame of me I guess the only one who was not really sh my sister Za and my sonin junior we they take me off all over even pushed me even trying to push me off even when we go to the store they put me in one other but M I wouldn't let them put me on a in wheelchairs in a store house cuz one time they did that they're bumping all everybody out there
23:45 sir I thought if I heard some I get sued my grand it's really really important for you especially you want young ones to learn go to Elders take your toac or something so they'll tell you the the meaning of the TP each one of those were
24:05 different each one of them got songs like myself I don't know how to make TV but I know that what it what it means those things all those each one of those poles even those flaps everything
24:26 is a spiritual
24:54 mother somebody stole it had it on a yard somebody took it don't
25:00 [Music]
25:22 know all spiritual each one of
25:27 those for you
25:49 boys the on that got carry on that's all I can say I want to thank you
26:11 for coming over here listening to
26:27 us
26:56 she's recalling a story about the sign significance of the Tepee a long time ago she said uh you probably remember the story that our elders used to tell us about the Twins when they were born in one in the Tepee and they were fighting and uh and a lot of you people probably heard the story I know we taught it at the schools and uh you
27:21 probably read about it in one of the books St told by uh uh uh Walter the late Walter Denny he was one of our storytellers and he used to tell the kids stories we had a lot of storytellers my grandfather art ringbird they developed a lot of books about our
27:43 culture and uh my father was also involved and my late Uncle Joe small he was involved a lot of our elders Jim Denny Wendy boy a lot of those Elders that have passed on already they left you a lot of stories that are just sitting on the shelves at Rocky Boy school just getting
28:07 dust while I worked there I used to think I used to read those stories but I did not understand the significance at the time when I was a young teacher I didn't know I didn't really know but as time went on then I seen the purpose because in our life cycle in our
28:29 stories of how we came to be they tell these different stories that she's reminding us of in that life cycle when we were first created the first created that's how come those Tepe poles are like that all of those poles they have a
28:52 significance a spirit in every one of those poles and the duck is also very familiar in our uh stories and I used to always wonder how come those duck stories that we used to read and now it's all coming together as I'm getting older those duck stories that we used to
29:14 read to you they were a special part of our life cycle Stories the history of our people when that first created was uh born created from our mother earth everybody knows that story we also
29:37 had more people created and that's how come they call us neog and that means four bodies and that's how come we're called the Crees are called neog the four bodied people and that story is part of that uh life cycle of our people our history and
30:00 when that first created had a little uh they had their first born that first baby all of the things that hung around in that teepe was really spiritual they had bags in every one of them and that first one that little baby they asked him because they loved their kid the
30:24 first the first born they asked their little son it was a son I guess they asked that son where uh what do you want baby baby baby Sim that's how we say our
30:42 baby and this little baby I guess he
30:57 said for first
31:19 created
31:27 foree for little stories like that you know we
31:52 uh remember them and I'm saying this increase so we're just hitting glimpses of our uh stories that our elders have passed on to us as uh young people and they wrote that book and I used to wonder I wonder how come they're writing this book about these little ducks and now I know because that's a part of our life
32:14 history you uh young people when you hear those stories it'll make you think and we used to have kids write about what they heard in those stories what they got out of it and they uh they would write different things and we used to laugh there's a lot of uh teachers here that have retired that we work at the Bilingual School at that time it was
32:39 a Bilingual School then but we heard a lot of stories like that and the significance of this Tepe she wants me to uh tell you that the frame of that t like you heard the other ladies explain to you is like a woman protecting that
33:01 family that lives there you see all those poles those are her ribs they represent her ribs and the flaps like my Aunt he said those are like the mother is praying she's praying that woman that's what that
33:24 represents also the T poles we have a certain way that we tie those teepe poles when we erect that Tepee and when you go inside and if the sun is shining in a special in a way you could see the formation of an eagle inside that teepee I don't know if you've ever observed it but uh You
33:49 observe that from now on if that Tepe is tied the correct way the cre way you will see that eagle and that's a blessing to us these Eagles when we see an eagle the first day when we camped here right after everybody was uh settled down and everything and everybody got smudged there was a huge
34:12 Eagle that was flying around so all the elderlies uh elderly people said we got a blessing today and that's what we took it for the tip is also very uh uh used used in other different ways beside the ceremonial way that they were describing my grandmothers used to have
34:35 a uh medicine gapa is what they called it it was a black medicine and that kind of died died out on this reservation because my grandmother's passed on and we as the offsprings fail to learn those
34:56 ways of although Merl remembers all the tracks that he made with him as a little boy where they went got the roots the barks and I have an uncle in Canada that's willing to teach us now and I'm going to go up there sometime whenever he fixes that medicine he's supposed to call us whenever he's going to make that medicine and I want to take some of my
35:21 relatives to go learn that cuz I want to carry that on because it was a great medicine but what I wanted to tell was the teepe the women have their own ceremonies too within the cre tribe those days they used to uh Elaine Topsy's grandmother she used to have a a painted teepe she used to come and set
35:45 up when these old ladies got done and she used to have her ceremony some people have to uh have a ceremony a feast so she would pick that time to do that when my grandmother's got done making that medicine she used to have them set up that teepee and we'd all go in there after
36:08 that medicine was made they cooked this all day long and it hardened up we had to bring our own bags and these are the bags from the animals and we dry them up and we take all of our bags and then she would fill them up all those old ladies would fill those bags up after that ceremony we'd come out before you went
36:30 out the door of that teee with your medicine that they gave you there was I always remember this uh this word I never did try to learn the songs I was young that time when they used to make this medicine but before we came out the door
36:52 we had to say gak that was our way of thinking probably I always figure the spirits that help them make this medicine to this day I always say that when I I'm very thankful I'll say when I'm really thankful that's what I say and that's what I'm saying today too is that uh I'm really thankful for
37:17 this encampment was a lot of hard work but I'm thankful today to see all the people that came out and camped and took part in the activities that we had so at this time what I told my aunties is that we're going to sing that Thankful Song the women have their own version of singing it as well as the men
37:40 and some of you heard yesterday Merl tiendo saying that song so we're going to sing that too she said where's your drum but I don't have a
38:01 drum oh need those of you that know how to sing this song I'd like to have you get up
38:21 and sing with us too [Music] y High
38:43 high [Music] hey
39:04 [Music] it always makes me cry to sing that because my dad gave that to all the kids one time that I taught and he told them those songs are yours it's everybody that wants to sing that song and you're
39:28 thankful so today that's what I would like to do but every time before I start uh assembling a t i do that too I pray my classes I'll do it on by myself so this last time I did it in front of the girls that were I taught that was how I was taught by my mother to to have good
39:51 thoughts while you're making that Tepe because it resembles the home a woman is responsible for that home we have different ceremonies that take place and even marriages there's special special spots for the parents the grandparents are over here when they have
40:13 grandparents and then the mother is on the uh right side the father is on the left side the grandparents the men folks on that left side okay by the doorway is the grand uh other set of grandparents one is sitting on this side and the the other grandpa is sitting on the other side they
40:38 protect the home that way both up here and back here and the Tepe poles that's what they represent too every Tepe pole that you see there there's different animals that are represented by the Tepe PS that are in the home we have 17 if it's a huge
41:02 one we have 21 so I'd like to thank you at this time for listening to us in our presentation and hope that you can get that song it's yours to use I'd like to encourage all the young ones to learn that song men sing it a little different from the women as you could
41:24 see questions do you have any questions you wanted to ask years ago did they take the poles with them or make new ones pardon when they would uh move a teepe years ago would they take the
41:48 poles with them or make new ones I think they made new ones um I never did really do the history uh to study how they did it long ago but what what I heard was uh that they did uh construct new new teps you know we didn't have horses a long time ago we had dogs though they little made made little travys with what they
42:11 could travel with what little they had but the T Tepe PS were always cut as new and when the horse came about then that's when the Troys the big Troys came about and I imagine then too they they took their tee be pulled
42:33 along are there any other questions today if not I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you ladies for coming out and sharing with us today sharing your knowledge sharing your history your culture we really appreciate you coming out if you would all help me thank them for sharing
42:56 today
43:01 and in just a
43:26 few
43:56 e

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