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Native American Architecture

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Object Details

Introduction
In the third year of collaboration between the Folklife Festival and the Department of Energy, attention turned to Native American architecture. In recent years, a new interest in native American dwellings had begun to focus on their energy efficient features as well as the symbolism of traditional Indian structures. For example, experiments comparing the energy efficiency of the tipi with a modern American home indicated that on freezing winter nights the Indian lived at a similar comfort level. Their hardwood-burning fires warmed the tipi at a comparable efficiency level to oil heated furnaces, because the space required for each person was a tenth the area non-Indians were accustomed to. Indian communities in the late 1970s were experiencing a revival of old house building. The Wichita of central Oklahoma had resumed building the distinctive beehive-shaped houses of red cedar ribs that had seemed to be lost a half-century ago. In Northwestern California the Hupa had been reconstructing their traditional cedar plank houses on the sites of three old rancheria (or village) locations. Both the Hupa family house and the slightly smaller men's sweat house belonged to the oldest architectural tradition in North America, the pit house. Here earth serves as excellent insulation, walling the four-foot deep excavations where the Hupa once warmed themselves during the damp winter and cooled themselves throughout the baking summer. Visitors entering the Indian lodges built at the Festival could notice the skillful use of available materials. These home traditions perpetuated practical adaptations to climate; also, they indicated the human impulse to invest the immediate environment with spiritual meaning. Diana Parker served as Energy Exhibit Coordinator, with Gary Floyd as Technical Coordinator.
Participants
Doris Kicking Woman, tipi painter, Browning, Montana George Kicking Woman, tipi painter, Browning, Montana Molly Kicking Woman, tipi painter, Browning, Montana Ernest Doyebi, 1920-2004, arbor and windbreak builder, Anadarko, Oklahoma Billy Evans Horse, arbor and windbreak builder, Carnegie, Oklahoma Alonzo Chalepah, arbor and windbreak builder, Carnegie, Oklahoma Roy Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida Irene Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida Ted Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida Rachel Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida
Collection Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
See more items in
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1979 Festival of American Folklife
Archival Repository
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Identifier
CFCH.SFF.1979, Series 7
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1979 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Restrictions
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1503512423841-1503512423894-5
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk5fce4e994-8a99-465d-951f-39c38a7484f1

Related Content

  • Online Finding AidSmithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1979 Festival of American Folklife

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