Native American Settlements

With this submission, my wife and I want to celebrate some Cultures of Native Americans as we tried to capture their way of everyday life.

The build is focused on a balanced mixture between playability, aesthetics and stability. Having a young daughter, we generally treasure LEGO sets that come with many play features, so I designed everything to be openable. 

In this set, the playing possibilities would be endless. Recreate family life in the housings, go on a fishing trip, take the horses on the Great Plains, visit other Tribes. There is no limit to fantasy and that is simply beautiful to us.

There are currently 562 recognized tribes living in th US. All tribes have different ways of life and customs with different traditional Accomodations.

We have decided to include three different traditional building styles, out of many more from a rich culture. In this Set we represented the Pueblos which are rectangular, solid houses made of adobe mud or clay bricks with many annexes, some storeys only accessible via retractable ladders.

The wigwam, which were dome-shaped and had a roof made of animal skin or bark, woven reed mats and dried grass. And last but not least, our three Tipis, which could be set up and dismantled quickly and had a tarpaulin made of sewn and tanned buffalo hide. This made them perfect for following a herd of buffalo around which used to be vital for survival for Nomads, while the resident Natives dealt with agriculture, jewelry making, pottery and bartering. Totem poles were only found in a few northern coastal regions and usually represent a specific families history.

Our set should encourage people to show interest and openness towards other cultures and overshadow some stereotypes that arose over the years.

We even got some insights and help by an actual representantive of Native Americans in our Country which was a pleasant experience.

Have we made you curious to learn about other Cultures?

Pueblo: 362

Small Tipi: 267

Medium Tipi 475

Large Tipi: 664

Wigwam and Hill: 697

Total Parts: 2465 plus 6 Minifigures

This submission is a collaboration between me and my wife from which I have permission to release it on this account. Her Ideas Account is called SteineInsel. Link to her Profile

We hope you enjoy this submission!