Tipi Rings

The subject is obvious to anyone that knows anything about first nations people, particularly the nomadic tribes of the plains.  A tipi ring is a circle of stones left behind after a camp moved on.  The stones held down the edges of the cone-shaped tent.  To heavy to carry along, the stones were usually left behind, and new ones located at the next camping spot.  These rings dot the southern prairies of Canada and are relatively easy to find, if you know where to look.

To a city dweller, not familiar with the prairies or the first nations people, this may not be obvious at all.

I found this one in Grasslands National Park.  It was not marked, and there was no trail leading to it, or any interpretive signs.  Margarit and I were simply wandering along the edge of a coulee and came upon several rings.  The foreground one in this photograph was the most distinct, but there were several more adjacent to it, and a little further along the coulee rim.

I shot this image on Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 4" x 5" sheet film.  I rated the film at 400 iso and gave N+1 development in PMK to bring up the contrast a little.  I think this worked as the stones seem to have good separation from the grass.  Development was on my Jobo Processor for 16:40 minutes at 20 C.

I shot this on September 17th at about 2:00 in the afternoon with my Ebony view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter added further contrast, beyond what the plus development afforded.