Natural Building . Family tradition has it that I was conceived in a Tipi, made by my parents, under  the “old yew tree” near Polesden Lacey in Surrey. I certainly spent time as a baby  and as a small boy in various hiking tents like the ones used by the Kindred in the  20’s and 30’s. A significant memory for me is being woken up one misty morning  to see a little tipi in the garden. It had smoke coming out of the top and looked  quite magical. My father had made it out of paper and used the dried stalks of the  Golden Rod plants for the lodge poles.  Being an Indian was part of my dreaming  and imagination as a child and the books of Ernest Thompson Seton, such as  “The Book of Woodcraft Indian Lore” were much loved treasures.  A lot of my time as a pre-teenage boy was spent on Wimbledon Common and  “den” building was a significant part of our play. The dens ranged from simple  nest like hiding places under the ferns and bracken to quite sophisticated, more  permanent structures. Straw bales, when available on the local farm, made  excellent building blocks. Flexible hazelwood frameworks covered with  “liberated” pieces of canvas or tarpaulin made the most satisfactory semi-durable  accommodation. Sometimes we thatched with rushes, flag leaves, bracken fronds  and leaves of all sorts. Most of these dens incorporated a fire of some sort. Small  and neat, smoke free if possible and all lit with “only one match” as a matter of  pride and as instructed by “Lonecraft” the book by John Hargrave or “White Fox”  as he was known.    © Jon Appleton 2010 Made with Xara by Jon Appleton This site brings together a kaleidoscope of ideas derived from 60 years of enquiry: it shares insights into fields as disparate as:- Archaeology, Landscape alignments, Megaliths, Henges, Prehistoric measurement, Astronomy, Mythology, Calendars of the past and Seasonal celebration. Click here to contact Jon   Even little birds do it. American Indian Tipee  This picture was taken in 1942 when my brother, sister and I won a fancy dress competition as a native American family. The bug has bitten!