Pow-Wow Lodge or Canoe Shelter (Book Two, Card 21)

Many tribes utilize brush shelters. Brush shelters, like camping tents, are usually quite small. Brush lodges are exclusively used for sleeping, therefore people can’t generally stand up straight within them. A brush shelter is constructed of a simple wooden structure that is covered in brush (branches, leaves, and grass.) The frame can be either cone-shaped with one side open as a door, or tent-shaped with both ends open. Most Native Americans only made a brush shelter when they were out camping in the wilderness. However, other nomadic tribes, such as the Apaches, who lived in hot, dry areas, built brush shelters as houses on a frequent basis. They can be assembled quickly from materials that are easy to find in the environment, so people who build villages of brush shelters can move around freely without having to drag teepee poles.