This photograph of a Native American man standing next to his teepee was taken around 1890, somewhere in the Indian Territory. The Indian Territory was land set aside by the American government as a place to deport American Indian tribes and restrict them to what was meant to be a new homeland for them. However population expansion by American settlers resulted in more and more of the Indian lands being taken from them and absorbed into what is now Oklahoma.
The man in this picture is barefoot and dressed in traditional native dress. He is holding a rifle and the reins of his horse. Behind him is a traditional teepee made of animal hides and wooden poles. There is an opening in the ceiling for ventilation and to allow a fire to be lit inside the tent. The teepee was the ideal home for a nomadic people as it could be set up and disassembled quickly.
Note that the covering of the teepee is made of a patchwork of hides sown together likely using sinew as thread. The hides would have likely been made from buffalo or other big game. If you look closely you will see that there are actually two layers to the teepe, with the two different sections wrappig around each other and coming together at the door flap, which is being held open by a small wooden stake.
The poles of the teepee are arranged in a cone shape to hold up the sides of the tent and converge in the middlke, creating a chimney allowing the occupants to light a fire within the teepee for warmth and cooking. The poles themselves are long and relatively narrow, making it easier for the people to transport them from place to place. Most Native Americans did not use carts or other wheeled vehicles, so poles would typically be dragged behind horses when moving from onne camp to another.
