Buffalo Hide Tipi

This buffalo hide tipi, at Nez Perce National Historical Park, is believed to have been made in the 1850’s. It consists of sixteen to twenty buffalo hides stitched together with sinew. Mylie Lawyer, whose family is associated with the tipi, says that it was owned by Chief Lawyer’s wife, Ow-yeen. This style of tipi was traditionally popular because it was so easy to move; the two supporting ends of the poles would be tied to a horse during transportation. On June 16, 2005, the tipi was set up for a few hours, the first time in 55 years, to be photographed for the park's online exhibit. Normally, museum objects as old as this tipi would not venture outside of the museum. However, on this special day, over forty people, including Mylier Lawyer and other Nez Perce elders, watched the park staff gently raise the rare hide dwelling, one of the few extant buffalo hide tipis left in the United States.