Building Exhibits: First Nations Gallery: Making the Bison Hide Tipi
Winter tipi encampment diorama in the First Nations Gallery.
The bison hide tipi installed in the opening exhibit of the First Nations Gallery represents a journey of discovery for RSM staff and Cree artists alike. For Miriam Thomas and Les Goforth, it was a journey that allowed them to explore practice and tradition that they had only heard about from grandparents. For the RSM staff, it was a first hand lesson in the complexity and interconnectedness of faith, philosophy, and tradition in First Nations cultures.
Why bison hide, and not canvas?
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The opening exhibit is set in1763, a time when major changes in life style were looming. Horses and firearms were not yet a major factor in changing First Nations alliances, intense competition among fur trade companies was only just beginning, and alcohol and disease were just starting to become serious problems. However, there were still enormous herds of bison, and as long as this sacred animal prospered so, too, would the people of the First Nations. In 1763, with a ready supply of bison, there was no need for canvas. |
How big? How many hides?
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The diorama display area is only 4.5 m deep, so we decided to construct a tipi 3.9 m in diameter. According to the late Mr. Doug O'Watch, an Elder at Carry-the-Kettle First Nation, a wealthy family's tipi could be made of up to 25 skins while a poor family would have only a 6-skin tipi. A quick calculation showed that ours would require 15 hides. |
Where to get the hides?
First Nations communities regularly conducted large communal bison hunts. They acknowledged and respected the magnitude of the sacrifice that the bison made so that the people could have shelter.
Since there are no wild bison herds left on the plains, we obtained our hides from a bison rancher.
"My Grandfather, we are glad to see you… Be not angry at us; we are obliged to destroy you to make ourselves live." (Elder's prayer at the beginning of a bison hunt, recorded by ? McDonnell 179?)
Finding Someone To Do the Tanning
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Miriam Thomas, a Cree woman living at Chitek Lake, agreed to tan the hides and sew the tipi. She has tanned hides all her life, but she had never done bison hides. She experimented with the first hide, only to realize that tanning one bison hide took as much work as four moose hides. She continued in spite of the work because she saw this project as a legacy for future generations. "How many people will be able to say, 'My grandmother tanned bison hides'?" |
Step 1: Fleshing and Scraping
Miriam, her sister Mary Lee, and neighbours Mary Harris and Gilbert Moccasin, laced the very heavy hide into a frame and then began the arduous task of scraping fat and flesh from the inside surface. When this was completed, and when the hide had dried, they began the truly backbreaking work of removing the hair and thinning the hide.
"[Red Eagle's daughter] used the tool just as a carpenter does an adze, and at every stroke took off a thin shaving. . . Eventually the hide will be reduced to half its thickness." (James Willard Schultz, 1870s)
Step 2: Soaking and Softening
Miriam rubbed a mixture of cooked brains, spinal fluid, cooking oil, and fabric softener into the hide. When it became almost transparent she folded it up and submerged it in water for 3 days. The hide was softened by pulling it back and forward over a heavy metal wire for up to 20 hours until it was soft enough that she could wring water out of it. Finally, the hide was pulled and stretched until it was dry. It was now transformed from a bloody, fatty, smelly hide into one that was soft and supple as velvet.
"When [the grease] was thoroughly soaked in, the hide was then well smeared with a mixture of boiled liver and brains, folded and rolled, and laid away for several days. . . Then came the hardest of the work: the tanner for an hour or so at a time rubbed and seesawed the hide against upright, stretched thongs of rawhide, until, at last, it became almost as soft and pliable as velvet." (James Willard Schultz, 1870s)
Sewing the Tipi
Miriam decided to use her mother's old canvas tipi as the pattern for the new tipi. They laid the tanned hides, hair side up, trimmed them, and sewed them together using glovers needles and imitation sinew.
"It is not everyone who knows how to cut a tipi-usually some old woman . . . when a Person wants a tipi made he takes all the hides he has and gives them to the old woman." (Fine Day, 1934)
As soon as they finished sewing the tipi, Miriam, Mary, and helpers put it up to make sure that everything fit. It took eight tries before they had the tripod poles tied at the correct point, the poles spread at the correct angles, and the cover tied at the correct spot on the lifting pole. The tipi was brought to the RSM where it was stored until the day of the blessing ceremony.
"Each pole must be in exactly the right place . . . If one pole is misplaced, the whole thing doesn't come out right." (Fine Day, 1934)
Blessing the Tipi
Owners of a new tipi are obliged to sponsor a ceremony to acknowledge and thank the bison and trees who have sacrificed their lives, and to ask the Creator's blessing on all those who will live in the tipi. Les Goforth, the project co-ordinator, gave tobacco to four Elders and asked them to officiate at the ceremony; he also asked people to bring food for the feast.
"For the sake of Mr. Chaboillez and Mr. Henry's characters I gave a bit of tobacco to those who brought them to eat." (MacKenzie 1806)
The blessing was held at Piapot Cree First Nation during their annual pow wow. People gathered as we erected the tipi and prepared for the ceremony. When all was ready, the Elders, their helpers, and RSM staff went into the tipi. After the Elders had completed their prayers and had blessed the food, the helpers came out to serve the food to the guests. The ceremony ended with a giveaway of blankets and tobacco to all who had helped.
"so then ye master of ye tent & one or two more goeth in & Cutteth out a place for ye fire about three foot square in ye middle of ye tent & then ye fire being made they take a little sweet grass & lay at every corner of ye said square and then putting fire to it they perfume the tent so making along speech wishing all health & happiness." (Henry Kelsey 1691)
Installing the Tipi
The RSM invited Miriam and Mary to supervise the installation of the tipi in the Gallery. Given the limited space in the exhibit area, it was tricky trying to maneuver 7 m long poles and a 45 kg hide cover into place without poking holes in the painted diorama background. We all felt a great sense of accomplishment when we finished.
RSM staff, Miriam Thomas and Mary Lee after erecting tipi poles in exhibit case.
Maintaining the Tipi
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This tipi requires not only physical care (such as preventing bugs from eating holes in the hide) but also spiritual care, so each year the RSM holds a ceremony to thank the bison and to ask for the Creator's blessing. |
For further information contact the Exhibits Unit