The STORM MAKER’S TIPI begins with a brief history of how man first received shelter from the Great Spirit. Napi was the Great Spirit’s helper and was given the responsibility to take care of man and woman. Napi provided shelter by giving man tipis. In this introduction there are three pages of instructions on how to pitch a tipi and the materials needed to create one. Along with shelter, Napi gives man and woman horses to follow their source of food, the buffalo.

The story begins with a man named Sacred Otter and his son Morning Plume. Sacred Otter is the leader of his Blackfoot people. We follow these characters on a hunt for Morning Plumes first buffalo. After skinning their buffalo, a blizzard is suddenly upon them. Storm Maker, Bringer of Blizzards, brings on this blizzard. Sacred Otter and his son find shelter under the hide of the buffalo. Sacred Otter soon has a vision that he visits Storm Maker in his tipi. Storm Maker shows Sacred Otter how to paint a tipi to protect his people from bad weather. He promises Storm Maker that he will paint a tipi identical to his when spring comes. This promise saved Sacred Otter’s people from menacing weather and he is now known throughout the Blackfoot people.

The book is filled with a variety of paintings, photographs, and diagrams created by the author. The end pages appear stone-like with white painted images of man and beast coexisting in the world. Most of the images that appear in paintings are in profile. Some images show the backs of people or animals, but the faces are never completely seen. The elements of nature, man, and animal are present in all paintings. Paintings take up two pages and are sometimes viewed vertically. The Blackfoot people are portrayed with tan skin and with a short stroke of black on the face to represent their eyes. Hair is worn loosely or in braids. What makes each man or woman unique is their colorful clothing. Colorful moccasins, beads, and shoulder blankets adorn the people and give them individuality in the paintings.

Along with a diagram on how to pitch a tipi, Goble gives his readers a page from his book that can be copied to create a model of a tipi. This gives readers another avenue in investigating the history and the making of tipis. Artwork on and in the tipis reflect animals and nature surrounding the Blackfoot people. Photos are set aside by the author to portray present day.  The first photograph presented shows cars and trucks parked next to tipis. The last photograph invites us into a tipi and we capture the sun peeping through the smoke hole. Imposed upon the photograph are poems from the Lakota and Kiowa people.  STORM MAKER’S TIPI is a well-written and very detailed description of design and lore of the tipi.