Building a Wigwam (Time Lapse)

Funding for the wigwam generously provided by the Vernon D. and Florence E. Roosa Family Foundation Memorial Fund of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and by the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
Wigwam authentically designed and constructed by Barry Keegan, Museum Consultant.
Construction help from Renzo Cinti and Alex Reeves (Historic Huguenot Street Buildings & Grounds), Dawn Elliot and Sam Ramic, Trina Naclerio's Lenape Elementary School 4th Graders, and Joe Dolon's New Paltz High School students.
Produced and Edited by Kevin Venkatesh.
Videography by Kaitlin Gallucci, Joshua Gonzalez, Lukas Kranjc, and Kevin Venkatesh.
Music from: www.bensound.co...

[@DetroitMicroSound]

If you begin with a few young healthy trees, bending them together, and tangling the soft branches into one-another, a wetu is anchored to the earth, and is actually a living thing for several more years to come. If that young tree is a maple, your home makes sweetener. When it finally dies, it serves as a strong piling for many years to come, and the wetu withstand very high winds.

[@comfortablynumb9342]

Ficus roots are trained across rivers in India for bridges. They eventually bond to each other where they touch, making a very strong and long lasting living bridge. Ficus are also good for bonsai because they can be bent and twisted and they take the new shape. You could make a home with ficus saplings in the tropics and it should live for a very long time.

[@richiecrum5151]

Maple syrup

[@richiecrum5151]

Ah you a big sapling. Sap..ping off of me. Twin Towers.idaho powers.

[@kalicokathy1944]

I was fortunate to have a Native American friend who remembers her other mother taking her to her grandmother's wigwam for the day. Her grandmother refused to live in a house only her wigwam

[@yes0r787]

I agree with Grandma. I wish i had that choice to make.

[@miz3577]

Pretty amazing! Would like to see the inside of the Wigwam once it was completed. Please do an update video!🙏

[@Mark_72]

This build is awesome!

[@Suburbanstoneage]

Love it! It is like living in an inverted basket of sorts.Thank you sharing this knowledge.

[@johnjriggsarchery2457]

Wow, nicely insulated and all natural materials. That is beautiful.

[@jonahtravis5257]

You prolly dont care but if you are bored like me during the covid times you can watch all the new movies on instaflixxer. Have been streaming with my gf for the last few weeks :)

[@georgerhys5434]

@Jonah Travis Definitely, have been watching on instaflixxer for since december myself :D

[@nofurtherwest3474]

How long do you think one of these could last?

[@DUMBVRKID]

@@nofurtherwest3474 forever if cared for

[@nofurtherwest3474]

@@DUMBVRKID interesting

[@threeoeightwadcutter2820]

Absolute fantastic

[@lovelylocolad]

I love nature.

[@colleenorrick5415]

This is beautiful! Thank you!

[@coneriiesxpower12]

This is a amazing wigwam! My students and I loved your video!

[@tamaraweber3296]

Beautifully built

[@novascotianinfj]

So, using the blue tarps isn't historically accurate?

[@Mahaprajnaparamita]

This is the best example of a wigwam I have seen so far. The builder shows such care and precision, and the modern use of reeds is a good adaption to abundance. Instead of a “survival shelter” as you will see made often, this looks to be an actual home. I can’t make out the saplings though-are they hop hornbeam?

[@adamsloan9616]

Wow! This is incredible! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@eielson1978]

I wish that they had a narrated Full length version / how-to version like a PBS Version. I'd be interested in buying something like that. I know that Amazon does have books on the subject.

[@alyxiajohnson6604]

Wish you showed the bark removal process, I kinda missed some steps because of this.

[@atticbrowser9698]

Beautiful video thank you.

[@FishDrinkLightGreen]

This was so cool to watch! Keep up the good work!

[@evgenys177]

AMAZING STUFF.

[@thejohnny0018]

Really cool! ❤️

[@sumairamunir2355]

i think everyone will like it. Such a nice video👌...keep sharing

[@rlbadger1698]

A long time ago I was taught this by the grandson of a voyager. We wet lay the reed, laying straight then crisscross layers(3 layers, half hand thick each). Then clay cover and bark up. Then light a fire and dry for three days.

[@allieavasummer217]

❤ wow

[@erikbudrow1255]

Looks so nice! Hardly even "primitive". I wish I knew what specific plants were used for construction, and that there were more details given in general.

[@whitewolf9705]

Hi! I just noticed your comment when replying to a reply on my comment (what on earth was that sentence, lol). In my neck of the woods, we typically use Alder and birch bark. With that said, we're a resourceful bunch so we also use what's available. I suspect that's why the materials in the video look so strange to me! I've also never seen a wi'kuom designed quite like this before, I'm used to them being a little smaller with a hole in the roof for smoke to escape through. Maybe a variation because of a warmer climate?

[@robertrobert7924]

Just from the visual, it looks like cedar saplings, cedar bark lashing, river cane bundles, tulip poplar bark outer cover, and smoke hole rain cover.

[@thecocktailian2091]

Traditionally it would be willow saplings and birch bark. But of course its all regional. Where are these guys located?

[@susiegillfillan1100]

The bark used may well be poplar. There is a hickory species that is similar to poplar bark but is preferred if available.

[@Legokkid]

Cool!!!

[@KatherineUribe-1]

Really beautiful work!👍😎

[@johnclarke6647]

This is interesting. I descend from the Huguenots that came Manikintown,VA in 1700

[@morgan-gm9rz]

all you yt people on here need to understand that these were where we survived for generations. they are sacred homes NOT decoration. if you are yt do not build a wigwam at your house they are not your play toy

[@tylerbrown9357]

I built one of these strictly for partying in a tree not far from my lawn! Sacred is definitely the way we feel in there!

[@morgan-gm9rz]

Tyler Brown i bet you say the n word too you piece of shit. you’ll get what’s coming for you

[@wewjoj]

Do you think that it is wrong that these people built a wigwam?

[@anureetkaur4510]

wow

[@muthuselvi8309]

That is very good

[@jayski9410]

It's surprising how much this looks like the thatched roofs of England. Except here the thatch comes all the way to ground.

[@AhJodie]

Everyone should understand how to build a shelter that will keep you warm and dry from the materials that were given to us by the Creator for free!

[@wisewoman7906]

Wow!

[@AB-kg6rk]

those Mormon assistants are industrious! 😅

[@rosegolden2605]

How long did it take to build that in real life?

[@icecreamqueen4738]

Did the Iroquois live in wigwams when they went hunting? I found it in a book once

[@barbaraepley7032]

Wish you had shown the interior.

[@toddlabrador3477]

thank you

[@lpatterson1968]

Very well done but would have liked to seen inside

[@claudiagomezflores9622]

Why did you heat up one of the tops of the branch?

[@lynndowless5152]

A sheet of polyethylene underneath the thatch would make that 100% weather and water proof.

[@douglasmayhew2487]

That was a very nice video

[@merbau7887]

Wigwams are not cone-shaped?

[@ExSheriffFattyBoySkinnyArms]

This would have been a fantastic video if it had been filmed at normal speed and had included an explanation of the whole process in a voice over during the editing stage. But if you didn’t have time I understand. It is a fine video nonetheless. Liked!

[@mrbaab5932]

Is this crew that built the Wigwam what they call the Wig Party in olden times?

[@MrDXRamirez]

In real history it would be the men who built the frame. The women and children would finish their newly framed long houses or wigwams and the men would go hunting after the frames were constructed. The game caught would get skinned and butchered, its hide tanned, and its meat smoked for winters, stored, cooked and eaten by all the relatives and descendants of two Gens seated at the head of the table the oldest members of the tribe. From up high skylights open and close and hanging from the rafters to dry for herbs, paint, seeds, and weed to smoke a la tobacco. I often wondered if it was pot in the peace pipe? A Long House could house up to six individual families, has three fireplaces, and double as a smoke house, storage, all members sleep, live, use as a workshop, it can be as a high as two stories and as long as 1000 feet. Interior lofts for bedding and rooms walled off by skins. More than one Long House and you have a village run by the Gens of each tribe. The Long House is the Windmill of the Americas and it can be found all over the world in every historical period but the period we are stuck with. The methods and materials of construction served well for thousands of years as a self-sufficient system against the forces of nature. All that gave way to creation of markets where needs are met by means of money and Home Depot lumber. When money is not the bond people need to live the Long House will return to general use the question is will it before or after the next mass human debacle? Single family units dissolve a way of life of self-sufficiency creating a state of mind and condition of place of dependency. Individual families lose language, fraternity, culture, skill spawned from the bonds of cooperation that connected them to each other in one Long House.

[@DrFeelgood1127]

What kinda would do you use?

[@smug8567]

I wonder if anyone out there still has one of these in working condition

[@thecocktailian2091]

Considering you can make one in two weeks, they get built and destroyed on the regular.

[@EricJohnson-lx8wg]

How long did this Big Ol wigwam take to build? 5th Graders want to know! Thanks.

[@whitewolf9705]

I can't speak to this build, but the type of wi'kuom (dwelling) I'm used to seeing would probably only take a day or two. I'm guessing the design here has morphed over the years for the warmer climate and the loss of the nomadic lifestyle.

[@noonetobeseen7151]

Nice I love this

[@yogstoriodor]

Life before Home Depot😁

[@JamesKnatim]

Were there any First Nations People involved in this construction?

[@ICDSngo]

Can you build one for my camp?

[@edrubyj3846]

I have been learning about this. How long did that take you?😲

[@edrubyj3846]

I have been learning about this in school!

[@vukomanvitez4915]

Great work

[@mackmcaleer]

How long did this take?

[@brianripley5525]

I'm doing a project about this

[@RebeccaMcCagueSipe]

@@brianripley5525 Do you know when you'll have completion? Perhaps you'll post a video of your notes AS YOU GO?

[@xapile]

super , beau travail

[@robertkreiling1746]

You did not bother to show us the interior or what it might look like

[@anureetkaur4510]

how long this take with no fast forward

[@AdamBechtol]

nice

[@ChristopherBlazen]

Very neat

[@samofthebam8140]

Wow, so amazing!!

[@cameronmackenzie4568]

Nice looking Wigwam fellas

[@sauvageaux]

True blue never loses it's hue, Hugh, Hughes, hues...What 🐕

[@michaelvaldez1298]

For the horde!!

[@salem-p5f]

Its vary nice thx for putting the time and effort for this I Have a test on this so thx

[@whitewolf9705]

Wow, I've never seen or heard of a 'wigwam' like this before. :o

[@jonjon-wv2iv]

Wdym and my teacher is late

[@whitewolf9705]

@@jonjon-wv2iv The term "wigwam" is an English morph of "wi'kuom", the Mi'kmaw word for a home or dwelling. Coming from eastern Canada, the materials I'm accustomed to seeing are quite different. With that said, we're adaptable folk so it makes sense to use what's available, and the principles certainly look the same. The most striking difference might be the roof, I'm used to having a hole in the roof for a smoke vent. :P

[@coylewho]

Zillow has that listed at $600K.

[@sjs260563]

what if we just lived in an upside down basket, those guys, probably

[@thecocktailian2091]

Considering how sturdy that structure looks, seems like it should have an actual door opposed to a deer skin or some such.

[@nevaehandrhondavincent2577]

Beautiful work great job thank y’all Jesus Christ loves y’all

[@ibrahimmalik7922]

Good

[@kelligarcia7]

My teacher assigned this for me :D

[@っりっけってぇてぃえっ]

Same-

[@Bigdaddyluv68]

Wonderful

[@dirtthegecko1802]

Are the bundles of insulation made from the cane poles that you use for fishing poles? Or are they made from something else?

[@vancefifolt969]

abigail Riley I’m pretty sure they’re just reed bundles. And the cane poles are bamboo

[@melvinboyce9629]

I agree with Vance, however if available I am sure the cane that once grew in the large cane brakes would work. Some people used the can covered in mud clay to construct walls.

[@Wetfishmedia]

Is a wigwam warm in winter time?

[@kingjay2945]

QUARK yes

[@whitewolf9705]

Depends on how big a fire you light inside. :D

[@freedom_guard]

Great

[@melvinboyce9629]

Nice build.

[@babethi75]

super mir gefällt's 👍👍👍👍👍

[@blakespower]

seems like a lot of work, but I guess they didn't have internet back then

[@melvinboyce9629]

blake, you the man, NOT.

[@patricianunez4025]

Beautiful structure but where do you build the 🔥?

[@eielson1978]

From what I've seen it was in the middle with a vent hole in the roof. There would be a cover/tarp or hide to cover to keep out the rain & snow. They would also have a air tube from the outside buried in the ground and a stone pit to supply the air for the fire and the stones would help retain the heat from the fire for radiant heat as the fire would die down.

[@travj4450]

On the roof, duh

[@stevewilliams6085]

No exhaust for a fire

[@danietaylor346]

This were typically build during the summer months no need for indoor fire

[@stardustxx278]

Just wondering how many trees did you use for the bark actually what were all the types of trees and grass used?

[@a.r.moyapapitawaira7369]

How is the bark collecting process done? Great video 👍👍👍👍

[@JesseBalanyk]

The outside of that wigwam look like trees bark

[@Suburbanstoneage]

I think it is!

[@kevinrussell6530]

@@Suburbanstoneage It definately is.

[@svjaos]

와 아름다워요

[@thepeteyer]

?

[@lapylia7777]

!

[@elladaelaphant7199]

so preety

[@rifatjahan9791]

noice

[@katherinawoshkolup3820]

Hermoso👏👏👏🇨🇱

[@marycassidy693]

Do we know which Native Americans would have lived in these wigwams? My class loved this video!! Thank you!!

[@susiegillfillan1100]

I believe the Shawnee of Ohio used this or very similar method. Places with hardwood materials were abundant.

[@katlatour47]

I never write comment wow!

[@shingimambo5999]

Nood

[@L2FlyMN]

I made the mistake of not stripping the bark off of my iron wood 8X16 frame, but I could not believe how strong it was, as I could jump up & hang from it. It rotted down within 5 years. I was never able to complete it due to time restraints. Very disappointing!

[@michaelj2536]

I can appreciate the skill this man has. I built one years ago - not as fully with his perfectly insulated natural materials but I did make the frame - it was about 16x20 and about 8 ft high. I put tarps over it and a woodstove inside. I built it as a wood carving workshop for myself. Amazingly warm in winter with sides banked up w snow. Tarps breathed fairly well too. I'd go out in the morning and take the soft end of a broom and from the inside I'd tap the roof w the broom and the snow on the roof would fall all along the outside perimeter and bank itself along the walls. I've never seen one built that is as well crafted as is in this video

[@L2FlyMN]

Michael Jones; Perhaps one day I’ll be given the opportunity to do it again? The more I can learn, I believe the better. I like the thought of the use of canvas, because in most cases we no longer have the abundance of resources for a covering, plus, a light weight canvas would let natural light through as well as breath & dry out more quickly. I thought of creating a sort of shell that I could haul to & fro like a tent, that could then be stretched over the pre-made frame & secured to every upright pole? Creative thinking never hurts. Another thought just crossed my mind, thus the editing. One could stake out the canvas as one would on a teepee.

[@michaelj2536]

L2FlyMN Yes I agree the canvas seems ideal for these days considering the precious resources and whatnot. I'm thinking of building another one for my grandkids. Thanks to your inspiration.

[@っりっけってぇてぃえっ]

To the 69 people who disliked...wHaT dO yOu ThInK yOuR dOiNg By DiSlIkInGGggGgGG

[@en.nev.fim_bun]

You really had to say 69-

[@traceystumpclark931]

Wado!

[@CrowdPleeza]

How well were tribes able to keep warm in wigwams during the winter months? I've noticed wigwams being used by tribes in some of the coldest states or areas during the winter.

[@whitewolf9705]

The Wi'kuom originates in Mi'kma'ki, a region of Eastern Canada. They must've gotten the job done, I'm still here. :P

[@Sites903]

did the kids get paid???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? please let me know

[@drivelmussaw8761]

that thing could stop a rhino

[@saucywench9122]

Or a NC hurricane.

[@mollymessina4950]

you cool

[@quackquackmoopotatosalad219]

Cyool

[@jasongooden917]

more like Twig wam