Ossian Makes a Tipi

Programme 1 Outline

Ossian chops down a pine sapling (a young tree). He cuts off the side branches with a machete to leave the long straight trunk. Back at the workshop, he loads the trunk onto trestles and strips away the bark with a special blade. He puts on goggles, ear protectors and a face mask before sanding the trunk smooth with a power tool.

He measures, marks and cuts out some canvas. He stitches the edges of the material with a sewing machine to make a big half-moon shape. Using wooden poles, he puts together the skeleton of the tipi, deep in the Welsh valley where he lives. Then the canvas is rolled out over the skeleton.

Tent pegs are banged into the ground to keep the canvas tight. With his mates, Ossian settles down to a barbecue using the embers of an open fire, as night falls behind his tipi.