It’s a good feeling to be in a Tipi not least because it is circular which is an organic, healing shape. Sitting in a circle means no one place is better than any other and all are equal. Contact with the earth is fundamental to a Tipi living experience as you sit, sleep and eat in closer contact to the ground than you do in everyday life and it can be a very humbling feeling.

When you look up in a Tipi you are drawn into the centre of the poles which reach to the air and sky.

A Tipi is a strong, weatherproof, roomy nomadic dwelling that brings us closer to nature and an outdoor living experience. And in this unbalanced world we live in we can often feel cut off from our natural intuition and emotions so even a short time spent Tipi living can help us to rebalance our lives and to restore to life what we hold most important to our well-being.

Traditionally Tipis or lodges were made of buffalo hide, sewn with heavy seams and laced at the front with wooden pins, sometimes they were covered in rush-matting. Modern day Tipis are made from heavy duty canvas. Crow Tipis were notable for their poles cut from pines in the Big Horn mountains, favourite ponies would be tethered to some Tipis.
(See: Our Tipis page)

Where Next?!:

1. Stay in one of our Tipis - Go have a look!
2. Make a booking »

Texture & colour

Personally I cannot live without colour textiles and crafts in my life and in this way I feel particularly connected to the Native American culture.

The world is a place of texture and colour, the earth gives us paints, the plants give us cloth animals give us hide and bone and birds give us feathers, all these natural products are sacred to American Indian culture and are what they use to make there spectacular ceremonial, functional and decorative craftwork.

Native American Indians would make fetishes, amulets, medicine bundles ceremonial dolls and….as they did they would sing extra power into them, so that each object would have a healing power. Each material needs an understanding of its qualities fur and feather, beads, cloth, hides, rags were all used to create ceremony.

Below is a quote from a modern day Native American craft tutor.

“Each gift from your Grandmother is special and needs to be worked with its own unique way. You are part of the dance that is the creation of sacred craftwork and you are unique. What speaks to you will become part of the language you develop and use. What you make is real, your language is true for you, be true to it.”

Making crafts and alternative therapies are part of the events that 4 Winds offers (See: Events page).

Beads & Beadwork

Beads are ancient they can be made from glass, stone, bone metal, ceramic and in the modern age from many different types of plastic and resin. To put a bead on an object is to bring in colour, pattern and weight. Beads can turn a simple object into a work of art.

Traditionally beads were more muted and limited than those you can get today and they had evocative names such as Pony Trader Blue, North West Coast Blue, Cheyenne Pink, Greasy yellow, Chalk white and Sioux Green.

Native American bead work is probably the most sophisticated beadwork in the world. The patterns and colours of the beadwork vary depending on the tribal group.

Dream Catchers

Dream catchers have become very popular over the years and the story is that the web catches and filters dreams.

Good dreams are then passed down the night birds feathers to the sleeping dreamer below. The web retains bad dreams and nightmares.

How to make a dream catcher:

You now have your completed dream catcher to give for a gift or for yourself, SWEET DREAMS!