The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
A gable roofed house style house was used by the Dakota as a summer dwelling. This style looked exactly like what we call today a Gable Roof House. The name of this summer house style is Tipitanka (Tipi = dwelling, Tanka = big or large) dubbed in English as “The Elm Bark Lodge”. During the winter the Dakota moved into the woods and lived in their Wakeya, the Dakota tern for what we call a Tipi. As the Dakota moved west because they sold their land, they adopted log homes with dirt roofs. One of the Mdewakantun bands are called Cankagaotidan (Can = Wood, Kaga = to make, O = in, Ti = to dwell, Dan = you know what I am describing), or Log House Makers/ Dwellers, a term still used by them today.
To build this Elm Bark Lodge, the size of this rectangular building was determined and marked on the ground. Some were large made for two or more closely related families and some for only one family. Debarked Posts some 5 to 6 feet tall and about 2-3 inches in diameter were set in the ground about 2 feet apart along the long side walls. On the gable ends the posts gradually became longer about 12 feet tall at the center and declining in height to reach the height of the side walls. Forked posts were now procured and set to receive the ridge and the two top side wall ties, similar to top plates in a framed house. This required six in number. Next comes a horizontal lattice (that carpenters call girts) made of small diameter trees set about two feet apart and fastened to the vertical posts with Basswood (Hintacan) inner bark fibers. Finally, rafters were cut and placed about two feet apart resting on the ridge at the top and resting on the top of the horizontal wall lattice called by carpenters call a purlin. If you know how a farmers framed pole barn looks, this is how the Tipitanka looked.
Elm Tree bark Pecanha, (Pe = elm, Can = tree, Ha = bark) was used to cover the lodge. The women removed the bark from a standing tree. Reaching up five or six feet a horizontal cut was made around the circumference of the tree and a vertical cut from top to bottom. The bark was pealed in one piece and depending on the diameter of the tree, obtained a 5-foot by 6-foot panel of bark. These panels were fastened to the house frame all around. The roof was covered by overlapping the panels to shed rain. A hole was left in the roof for smoke from the interior fire to escape. A door frame was placed centered on the gable end. The door itself was of deer hides sewn together or a blanket fastened to a wicker frame. Interior benches about 2 feet of the ground and 3 feet wide were assembled along the long side walls.
Women built the entire house except the roof on which the men assisted. The benches were used for sitting and sleeping. Bedding consisted of hair stuffed pillows of deer hide and buffalo hides or blankets as coverings for warmth. On the exterior front on the gable end was a shade which also doubled as drying rack for corn and meat.
What happened to the knowledge of The Elm Bark Lodge. Ask any of the present-day Dakota people about this style of dwelling. Except for historians their use has been lost. One has to look at the situation the Dakota were in during their last days in Minnesota. The state was filling with non-Indians by the thousands. The were forced to sell 99% of their land, game animals such as Deer, Elk, and buffalo had moved west of the Red River of the North. Boxed into the corner they rebelled and were banished from the State of Minnesota. With all this movement from place to place they didn’t have the time, energy, or perhaps materials to build a permanent place to rest. They lived in Tipi’s which could be dismantled and moved as the Federal Troops pursued them until they gave up and signed Peace Treaties.
Seth Eastman was at Fort Snelling, an accomplished artist painted with water colors many pieces of art depicting all the phases of Dakota life including villages of Elm Bark lodges.
I am indebted to Samuel Wilson Pond an author who wrote the book: Dakota Life in the Upper Midwest. Published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press 1986 Pages 37 – 38. Gideon and Samuel Pond are credited with establishing the first Dakota alphabet.
