584 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897. 



elude that tlie typical catliiiite pipe was rectangular at the time of the 

 first contact of the French with the Sioux, and that all pipes of this 

 material differing in form are comparatively modern, and, as a matter 

 of course, articles of European manufacture found in burials are of the 

 historic period, as are those catlinites upon which animals are carved. 



PIPES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 



All along the western and northwestern coast of America a most 

 curious style of pii)e is found, commonly of very grotesque form and 

 made of a great varietj^ of material, such as wood, stone, antler, and of 

 these materials in combinatioji with metal, bone, and mother-of-pearl. 

 North of California almost all the pipes found not only indicate quite 

 modern origin but, in a measure, are suggestive of being made for sale 

 to the whites, though it can not be questioned that the Haida are 

 remarkable as carvers of great originality and have been known as 



such from a very early period, 

 their art being of a grotesque 

 originality, rude, it is true, 

 but uuiijue. 



Fig. 18G is a dark gray pipe 

 of steatite, 4^ inches long, 2^ 

 inches high, and li inches 

 wide, from American River, 

 Califoruin, collected by Col. 

 E. Jewett, and does not aiJ- 

 pear to have been much 

 smoked, for had it been it 

 would have been greased to 

 give it a black color. In this 

 pipe the bowl opening is five- 

 eighths of an inch, while that of the stem is three eighths of an inch in 

 diameter, though there is less constancy in the size of the California 

 pipes than in most others. This specimen is a curious combination of 

 man and beast, quite typical of California Indian art. The main figure 

 is that of some crouching four-footed animal, resembling none with which 

 we are acquainted, though probably readily recognizable by persons 

 familiar with their system of symbolism. Its four feet are curled under 

 the body; a long tail, forming a loop over the back, would suggest that 

 a mountain lion were intended. Carved into the back of this beast, 

 face up, is the diminutive figure of a human being, who lies upon his 

 back. The large eyes and prominent muzzle of the creature represent 

 a grotesque character of work, akin, apparently, to certain rude South 

 American carvings, and in some respects having characteristics encoun- 

 tered at times in ivory carvings from Japan or China, though there is 

 sufficient individuality to entitle it to a place of its own. This pipe is 

 quite massive and has been carved by means of sharp tools of iron, 

 though the work could be done with a sharp-bladed shell or stone. 



Fi;,'. ]SG. 



NORTHWEST COAST PIPE OP STEATITE. 



American River, California. 



Cat. No. 6201, U.S.N.M. Collected by E. .Jewett. 



