Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
1661 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
The 15 richly decorated buckskin models were created by Indian artists from 1891 to 1904 to document the full-sized homes of tribal leaders. Designs for most of the decorations originated in dreams and visions and represent the supernatural powers that aided the tipi's owners—chiefs, medicine men and leaders of war parties.
Related book by Dr. John Ewers, MNH ethnologist
