Team-building and learning to raise a tipi
On Sept. 25, 2026, I had the opportunity to raise a tipi with my colleagues at work. It was not only a great team-bonding activity but also offered a glimpse into Indigenous culture.
The 12th annual Glen Anaquod Memorial Tipi Raising Competition was organized by the ta-tawâw centre at the University of Regina. The ta-tawâw centre hosts this competition every year to bring the campus community together and share Indigenous culture and teachings.
The morning started with a prayer by the knowledge keeper at the ta-tawâw centre. After the prayer, some experts demonstrated the tipi-building process, where we learned how to tie the tripod for the base, how to run the ropes to hold the poles together, the correct way to put on the canvas, how to hammer the pegs, and the correct way to open the window the flaps.
One of the key teachings that stayed with me is that the poles that hold the tipi together represent the ancestors. -Azba Malek
One of the key teachings that stayed with me is that the poles that hold the tipi together represent the ancestors, and therefore it is forbidden to step over them while building a tipi; people always walk around the poles and never step over them. Another important Indigenous teaching is that the door of the tipi cannot face south. The poles and canvas must be placed in a way that the door is facing any other direction except south.
In the afternoon, a demonstration was held by the late Glen Anaquod’s family, who raised a tipi and shared how he was always welcoming the community and sharing the Indigenous culture with people around him by participating in tipi-raising competitions. As a gesture of gratitude, the knowledge keeper at the ta-tawâw centre presented an Indigenous song to the Glen Anaquod family.
Even though our team did not win, we had a great time building the tipi and learning significant things about Indigenous culture. -Azba Malek
Each competition category is called a heat. There were a total of four heats consisting of approximately 40 teams that competed in raising a tipi. The heats included the women’s category, high school category, campus category, and community category. Our team participated in the campus category. Each team was given 20 minutes to raise the tipi. Even though 20 minutes seems like sufficient time to raise a tipi, the time goes by fast while you are competing. Our team started out by choosing three strong poles that we could tie and raise our tripod, which is considered the foundation of a tipi. Once our tripod was raised, one of our team members held the rope and ran around the tripod to tie the poles one by one. Once all of our poles were set, we started to roll up our canvas before placing it around the poles. Unfortunately, our team ran out of time and we could not finish placing the canvas around the poles.
Even though our team did not win, we had a great time building the tipi and learning significant things about Indigenous culture. As someone who had never raised a tipi before, I definitely enjoyed doing it and would recommend people come out next year and participate in the annual tipi raising competition held by the ta-tawâw centre. I would also encourage people to come out and watch the participants build the tipi and learn about the Indigenous culture.
