Native American Tobacco
Pipes
By:
Shayan Mondegari
Derrick Vu
Peace Pipe
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A peace pipe, also called a calumet or
medicine pipe, is a ceremonial
smoking pipe used by many Native
American tribes, traditionally as a
token of peace. It was used as a
major means of communication with
the spiritual world. The pipe was
actually used in both of war and
peace.
A leader of a war expedition carried a
pipe as a symbol of his leadership and
his responsibilities for members of his
party. During ceremonies, the pipe was
smoked to ask for protection and
success and to seek guidance on the
expedition. Pipe ceremonies also took
place to establish alliances between
different tribal peoples and in councils
before important deliberations were to
take place.
Origin
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Founded by Lakota from a mysterious lady who says
that they must smoke tobacco out of the pipe before
all ceremonies to bring peaceful thoughts into their
minds.
They must use it when they pray to the Strong One
above and to Mother Earth to ensure that they
receive their blessings.
Black Elk, a medicine man or "shaman," of the
Oglala Sioux Indians (Lakota), predicted that his
people would bring forth beneficial change to the
next generation. He predicted that the pipe, and the
respectful pipe holder, would be required to
establish a spiritual basis for this nation.
How the Pipe is Made
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Several materials have been employed in making the pipe:
pipestone, bone, wood, and clay. The bowl of the pipe is cut from
one piece. In a procedure that takes about eight hours, the pipe is
gradually carved and ground from one piece of pipestone, and then
the bowl and stem hole are carefully hollowed out, using a simple
drill.
The pipestone is oiled with grease, which gives it its distinctive
bright red appearance. Sometimes clay is gathered, molded into a
pipe, dried, and then fired in a fire pit. Bones, wood, and shell have
been used, depending on their availability. The stem of the pipe is
wood or reed decorated with feathers or porcupine quills, and tufts
of horsehair and animal fur. These were believed to correspond to
the essential parts of the Universe.
Different Types of Pipes
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Clay - The clay pipe represents the clay body of the
human, within which is contained the burning ember of
life.
Red Pipestone - Catlinite is an iron-rich, reddish, soft
quartzite slate typically excavated from below
groundwater level. Red pipestone was used by the
Eastern Tribes, Western and Great Basin Tribes, and the
Plains Tribes.
Blue Pipestone - Also a form of catlinite, blue
pipestone was used almost predominantly by the Plains
Tribes for ceremonial pipes. Deposits of the stone are
also found in South Dakota.
Contd.
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Bluestone - a hard, greenish-blue quartzite stone from
the southern Appalachian Mountains. This stone was
used by several Eastern Woodlands tribes for
pipemaking.
Salmon Alabaster - Salmon alabaster was generally
mined in central Colorado.
Green Pipestone - A white on green marbled cupric
pipestone found in Wyoming and South Dakota and used
by the Shoshone, Ute, and Plains Tribes for personal and
ceremonial pipes.
Contd.
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Black Pipestone (South Dakota) - a soft,
brittle, white on black marbled pipestone used
by the Plains Tribes for ceremonial pipes.
Black Pipestone (Uinta) - an extremely hard
black quartzite slate found in the southeastern
drainage of the Uinta Mountains in Utah and
Colorado. This stone was used by the Great
Basin Tribes for war clubs and pipes that are jet
black with a high gloss when polished.
From top left: red pipestone, red pipestone,
green pipestone, salmon alabaster, blue
pipestone
Symbols embedded in the smoking
pipes
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The stem of the pipe represents the
Male Principle as well as
straightness of speech, mind and
body. Animals or other creatures
carved on the stem stand for, and
thus pull into a ceremony, all of the
four-legged creatures of the earth.
Eagle feathers tied to the stem
stand for the winged creatures
above. Colored ribbons stand for the
four cardinal directions.
The bowl of the pipe represents the
Female Principle as well as the Plant
Kingdom. The bowl of the pipe is of
red stone; it is the Earth.
The whole of the pipe represents
Creation, and as soon as bowl and
stem are connected the ceremonial
pipe becomes sacred as a result.
Symbolism of Pipe Smoke to Lakota
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The use of the pipe was considered a sacred ritual. The
smoking mixture consisted of various herbs, often
tobacco mixed with willow bark, sumac leaves, certain
manzanita leaves, cedar shavings, or white sage.
Although some tribes at times smoked for relaxation
and/or a narcotic effect, most did not normally inhale the
smoke. Rather, they used the pipe as a major means of
communication with the spiritual world.
The pipe smoke is also related to incense smoke in
Catholicism. One reason for the pipe smoke is to
perfume the air with a special fragrance. The second
reason is because "incense produces smoke lighter than
air, and thus the smoke rises. These symbolize prayers
rising to heaven. This is to make invisible things
(prayers) visible (the smoke).
Why did the Lakota use them?
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As a means of prayer, pipes have been used to give thanks, to establish new relations
and seal agreements, to mark important passages of ceremonial life, and to begin
important expeditions.
Among the Sioux there are three different uses for pipes. The least important kind is
one that is used for social purposes. It is filled with regular tobacco and smoked with
friends. Anyone can smoke it.
A higher kind is the personal pipe that we use to make and continue friendships, and
it is the one that is filled and sent as an offering to a medicine man when his services
are needed.
The third and most important kind of pipe is one that is used by its owner for
ceremonial purposes, such as the sweatlodge rites, vision quests, and the Sun Dance.
It is also the one used by the holy men and medicine men for their private rituals, for
healing patients, and as they lead the various tribal ceremonies.
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One often-used method for opening meetings was to first light the calumet, then
offer the calumet (or blow smoke) to the Thunderbird (or Eagle) in the east, and then
make the same offering in a clockwise direction to the south, west, and north, and
then to Father Sky and Mother Earth.
Ceremonial Use of the Peace Pipe
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The pipe ceremony begins with
loading tobacco, a natural substance,
into a pipe
The pipe is held firmly by the bowl in
the palm of the hand with the stem
pointed outward. The last step of the
pipe offering is the holding up of the
pipe with its stem pointed straight
upward, out into the center of the
universe.
In the complete ritual of the pipe,
there are three phases: the purification
with the smoke of a sacred herb; the
"expansion" of the pipe so that it
includes the entire universe; and
finally, what could be called the
"identity", which is the sacrifice of the
whole universe in the fire.
Lakota Use of the Calumet Today
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The pipe is still used today, as
Indian peoples are
"rediscovering" their cultural
roots.
Much of the sacred ceremonial
meanings have been lost
because, for the past three
generations, tribal elders and
medicine men have been
unable to find enough tribal
youth who were willing (or
able) to receive the ancient
teachings.
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Native American Indian Peace Pipe Dance
Works cited
"American Indian Pipes (Calumet)." Native American Indian Pipes. May
1997. 1 June 2008 <http://www.native-languages.org/pipes.htm>.
Brown, Joseph E. The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven
Rites of the Oglala Sioux (Civilization of the American Indian
Series). Oklahoma City: University of Oklahoma P, 1989. 1152.
"First Americans." Origin of the Peace Pipe. June 2008. 31 May 2008
<http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/kmartin/School/ghost.htm>.
Paper, Jordan. Offering Smoke: the Sacred Pipe and Native American
Religion. Oklahoma: University of Idaho P, 1988. 1-181.
"Peace Pipe." Wikipedia. 8 May 2008. EncyclopæDia Britannica Eleventh
Edition. 2 June 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_pipe>.
Tree, James M. The Way of the Sacred Pipe. New York: Blue Sky, 2006.
1-108.