Introduction by Cle-alls (Dr. John Medicine Horse Kelly)
Teepee, sometimes spelled in English tipi, is the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, and Nakoda word for house, but not everyone lived in teepees. Some people have called these First Nations the Sioux. Every Indigenous culture is unique. The Haida and other Northwest Coastal people lived in strong cedar longhouses that were home to up to 80 people each. The Haudenosaunee of northeastern North America, too, lived in bark-covered longhouses in which many families shared space. In fact, Haudenosaunee has always meant the Longhouse People. Some communities moved to Oklahoma around 1830 when the United States army forced them from their homelands.
The Haudenosaunee love to go to powwows, but their song and dance traditions are not like powwows. They are theirs and theirs alone. We invite you to read on and appreciate this wonderful Indigenous North American culture.
