The traditional home for a Sioux family was a tented structure called a tipi. The tipi provided warmth in winter and protection from the sun and the wind in the summer.

The tipi suited the tribe well because it supported their nomadic - traveling - lifestyle. As the Sioux migrated to follow the buffalo, their village could be easily dismantled and rebuilt.

The typical tipi lodge was eight to fourteen feet across. It had few poles to minimize its weight when traveling.

With the arrival of the horse came greater ease in relocating the camp. The tipi nearly doubled in size. The wrap around the tipi grew to twelve or more buffalo hides sewn together. The framework for these larger tipis may have consisted of eighteen or twenty cedar or pine poles.

A tipi was more than a shelter. It also served as a storytelling device. Paintings on the tipi told about hunting expeditions, battles, and visions.