Below is a section of this chapter. The whole chapte is on the Iowa History Site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STORIES OF IOWA FOR BOYS AND GIRLS THE INDIAN AT HOME Before the Black Hawk War few white people lived in Iowa. Only Indians lived in teh villages which the traveller found here and there on the prairie or in the timber by the lakes and rivers. There were no churches, no factories, and no school buildings in these Indians villages. There were only the tepees or wickiups of the Indians, the only paving was the prairie grass, the only lights were the camp fires. The Indians who lived in Iowa used both the tepee and the wickiup as homes. The tepee, as you know, was made by tying a number of long poles together at the top and then covering this frame with skins stretched tight. The Sauk and Fox Indians lived in houses called wickiups. They made these by bending light poles over to form a framework and covering this with woven mats, sheets of bark, or skins. These wickiups had a rounded top and were shaped something like a haystack. Perhaps you have seen some of these wickiups near Tama. Many of the Indians there still prefer to live in their native lodges, although they now also have frame houses. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/