Although some would consider the Indian teepee a very primitive and simple form of housing, the concept was actually very brilliant and deserves acknowledgment. Unlike today’s houses that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, a teepee might have only cost less than one hundred dollars to make and it served the same purposes of shelter, warmth, protection and a kitchen of sorts with the fire serving as their main form of food preparation. The Indian teepee gets its name from the Lakota Indian language and translates to house or dwelling.