Tipi

Date: 1743

a conical tent usually consisting of skins and used especially by American Indians of the Plains.

    That's the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition.  I would add that when I was an Explorer Scout (older Boy Scout) in Explorer Post #118, in West Islip, Long Island, New York, in the 1950s, we camped out in tepees.  Our tepees were made of canvas, decorated on the outside with Native American-style painting.
    The first step in setting up a tepee was to loosely tie together three long wooden poles (made from saplings with their branches removed). This fastening would be done close to the ends of the three poles.  Next, those poles would be stood upright, with their unfastened ends spaced apart on the ground to form a triangle with sides about ten feet long.  Then, perhaps a dozen more long poles would be laid onto the three primary poles.  Their upper ends would rest on the lashing of the first three, and the lower ends would be evenly spaced to form a circle on the ground which included the original three poles.  Then the canvas tepee itself would be lifted up, using a couple more long poles, and draped over the pole framework.  The overlap seam would be cleverly closed with wooden pins which somewhat resembled short, stubby drumsticks.  The tepee was designed to enable building a fire (for heat and for cooking) in the center of the bare floor, and there was a smoke flap at the top which could be opened or closed, again with the long poles.
    I always looked forward very, very much to our weekend camping trips and remember them fondly.