wigwam

[Eastern Abenaki wìkəwαm.]

WORD HISTORY   English has adopted two words for Native American dwellings from languages in the Algonquian family. Both wigwam and wickiup come from the Algonquian root wik- (with a variant wig-), "to dwell," to which suffixes are added. Wigwam comes from Abenaki wigwam (spelled various ways) and means "their dwelling"; wickiup comes from Fox dialect wikiyap or wikiyapi, "a dwelling, wigwam."

For more information on wickiup, visit Britannica.com.

Two documents from New England in 1628 record wigwam, the Eastern Abenaki Indian name for an Indian house or tent, or indeed any kind of similarly constructed shelter. "We built us our wigwam, or house, in one hour's space," says one. According to the other, the Indians say that when someone dies "Tanto carries them to his wigwam, that is his house."

One type of wigwam was that of the Ojibwa, an Algonquian tribe. They made a dome-shaped arrangement of poles covered with bark, animal skins, or reed mats, with a firepit in the middle. Following Indian examples, the English colonists soon learned to use similar materials to make what they called English wigwams (1631), arched but long with flat ends and often with a stone fireplace and chimney at one end.

In the nineteenth century, another kind of wigwam took on political significance. It was the name given to a large temporary building constructed for a national political convention. One of the most famous of these, called simply the "Wigwam", housed the Republicans in Chicago in 1860. Thanks to that circumstance, Abraham Lincoln could have advertised his humble origins by saying, not only was he born in a Log Cabin (1770), he was nominated in a Wigwam.

An Indian dwelling in the American Northeast, found in a variety of shapes; commonly, a domed structure having a framework of saplings set into the ground, bent over, and bound together. This framework was covered with a watertight surface of overlapping matting or animal skins. A hole at the top of the wigwam provided an escape for smoke from the firepit below; an opening at the side served as an entrance. Compare with tipi.

Wigwam, also known as a "wickiup," was a New England Algonquian word meaning "dwelling." The domeshaped or oblong structures were made of bent poles covered with bark—especially birch bark. In some cases the winter covering was of mats or thatch. Because the structures were very simple, they could be easily disassembled and moved.

The English applied the term to all Iroquois and Algonquian dwellings from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and north of Carolina and Tennessee into Canada. Later, the term was applied to structures more correctly designated tepees.

Bibliography

Yue, Charlotte. The Wigwam and the Longhouse. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

There are four musical groups named Wigwam:

• Wigwam, a Finnish progressive rock band active from 1968 onwards.
• Wig Wam, a Norwegian retro glam metal band founded in 2001.
• Wigwam, a Welsh neo-folk band that debuted in 2001.
• WigWam, a 2006 collaboration between Betty Boo and Alex James.

See also

Wigwam (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - wigwam, tipi, teepee, indianerhytte

Nederlands (Dutch)
wigwam, indianentent

Français (French)
n. - wigwam

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wigwam

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κωνικό αντίσκηνο (ερυθρόδερμου)

Italiano (Italian)
wigwam

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cabana (f)

Русский (Russian)
вигвам, хижина

Español (Spanish)
n. - cabaña o tienda india

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - indiantält

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
帐蓬, 小屋

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 帳蓬, 小屋

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (북아메리카 원주민의) 오두막집, (집회 등을 위해 급히 만든) 대회장

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ウィグワム, 小屋

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الوغم أي بيت الهنود الحمر مخروطي الشكل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אוהל אינדיאני, ויגוום‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.