The scene of women cultivating corn, beans, and squash occurred only relatively recently. Families living in tepees. The tepee is a cone-shaped tent made of skins or bark used by North American Indians, especially those living on the Great Plains. There is no evidence of traditional Indians in Illinois using a tepee. In fact, the type of shelter used by Indians in Illinois changed many times and included the wigwam, a dwelling with an arched or conical framework overlaid with bark, hides, or mats, and a longhouse, a long wooden multi-family dwelling.
People often rely on oversimplified or stereotypic images.
However, when we take time to learn about others, we discover that we have many things in common. And more important, our differences are interesting. American Indians or Native Americans, the first Illinoisans, have lived here for at least 12,000 years. During that time their lives changed dramatically. They hunted the enormous mastodon, they built the largest earthen mound north of Mexico, they struggled with arrival of European explorers, and they live today in every part of society.