by JULIA HARR
Intern Lifestyles Reporter

The average man wakes up in his square bed in a square room and then eats cereal from a square box only to throw the box away in a square trashcan.

The man then drives in his mostly square car to a cubical to stare at a square computer where he will get off work to go home to his square house, eat a square

TV dinner, watch a square TV and return to his square bed to sleep.

No longer wanting to be part of the square world, Brett W. Butler made a home for himself in a circle.

Students observe Brett W. Butler’s travel teepee Wednesday on Sanford Mall. Photo by Christy Bullins

“The natural world consists of circles, very rarely are there parallel lines,” Butler, a junior appropriate technology major, said. “The man made world is made up of squares.”

“The earth is round, it moves around the sun in a circle, eggs are round, cells are round, if you cut down a tree, you’ll see a circle, a bird’s nest is round and the seasons and water move in a cycle,” Butler said.

Two years ago, Butler read a book that inspired him to make this lifestyle change.

“The Last American Man” by Elizabeth Gilbert, is the story of Eustace Conway, a man who left his suburban home to make a life for himself in the Appalachian Mountains.

He, too, lives in a teepee outside of Boone.

Butler was so inspired by the tale that he arranged to meet Conway and take a teepee workshop from him at Turtle Island Preserve, also in Triplett.

After the workshop, Butler was convinced a teepee was perfect for him.

He purchased the supplies from a business that makes “yomes,” another kind of alternative housing.

Originally, Butler set the teepee up in Asheville, but moved to the Boone area after several months, due to a problem with bears and his desire to transfer to Appalachian State University. 

“I put an ad on Craig’s List looking for a farmer who would let me set up my teepee,” Butler said. “I said I was a clean, respectful, Eagle Scout.”

A Boy Scout camp director responded to the inquiry saying Butler could live on his or his mother’s land, free of charge.

His teepee is heated with a wood burning stove in the front center of the room.

There is enough room inside for a small bed, a desk and workstation, a chair, a cooking area and large bookshelf, filled with over 100 books.

The floor is fully carpeted with just enough room to walk around the dwelling.

Butler hand painted an intricate Native American pattern around the inside of his home which he said took many hours to complete.

Butler claims living in a teepee is advantageous, especially economically.

“The teepee itself cost about $1,300,” Butler said. “But I don’t pay rent and my utilities bill is almost non-existent.”

He spent $24 in a year on the propane he uses to cook and light his home with. He often trades labor on Turtle Island Preserve for firewood, or he cuts it himself.

For food, Butler will go to the grocery store, but he often hunts and does work for farmers for produce.

He recently purchased a street legal dirt bike, cutting his transportation cost from $60 a week to $10.

He trades labor for access to laundry machines, and his “landlord” gives him access to a bathroom.

Most of the resources Butler uses are renewable.

Butler has so few expenses he can live without having a job, and makes what little money he needs by doing odd jobs or working for Conway as a camp counselor when he needs him.

However, living in the middle of the woods does have some disadvantages.

“It gets lonely up here sometimes,” Butler said. “So I got a cat to keep me company, its name is Igmu which means ‘cat’ in Lakota.”

Butler said he frequently has friends over, and they love coming to his house for bonfires and small parties.

“It’s fun to get about 10 people over to have a good time,” he said. “Even in February when it’s freezing, with all those people inside it’s warm enough for my friends to be in short sleeves.”

He said combating the moisture is the hardest part of residing in a teepee.

“Living in a teepee in a temperate rainforest is not the best of housing choices,” he said. “I have to fight to keep the moisture away.”

He mostly battles moisture with canvas roofing and a wood stove.

When he first told his parents about his plans, they were skeptical, but encouraging.

“My mom was protective when I was a kid, but she thought it was awesome,” he said. “Ironically, my father who was Mr. Lets-Go-Hiking when I was young, was like, ‘Absolutely not, or no money for college.’”

Now that his parents have been to the teepee, and seen it is harmless, they are supportive of his way of life.

“I like living off the grid and under the radar,” Butler says. “I like to live simply. There is a difference in what you think you need and what you really need.”

Butler considers his teepee an experiment that will help him adapt his major more readily.

He is trying to make his carbon footprint as small as possible.

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