632 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897. 



between each of Avliieli i)i'eseuts were usually excliaiijicd wlieu a tieaty 

 was in progress of negotiation. This ideograph was used when treaties 

 were made with the Indians, who were accompanied by a regular dele- 

 gation, whose duty it seems to have been to see that the chapters or 

 stations of the belt or pipe were properly repeated hj its bearer and to 

 interrupt his speech whenever not correctly repeated as agreed upon 

 by the tribe. The individual pipe was often employed as a pledge, 

 which when deposited must always be redeemed according to the strict 

 letter of the agreement. The commonly accepted theory of the great 

 sanctity of the pipe of ])eace as a protection to those accomi)anying it 

 does not historically apiiear to have been well founded. 



The calumet dance of the Indians seems to have been widespread 

 through the continent, so far as may be judged by the meager references 

 we have to it. It was a function of some religious or mystic character, 

 extensive presents being givenaipon the occasion, the individual danced 

 to or for being considered thereafter to be an adopted child of the 

 dancer. The flag of the United States, after the cession of Louisiana, 

 was used in place of the French pipe in the acquired territory. Such 

 agreements were later evidenced further on the part of the United 

 States by the presentation of medals bearing the head of the then 

 President or "Great Father,'' as he was called by the Indians, The 

 red color, designating war, and the white, peace, was possibly sug- 

 gested by the colors respectively of French and English flags. 



The typical, elaborate, and artistic curved -base mound ]>ipes, found 

 to be contemporaneous with copper imx)lements, are drilled by means 

 of tubular and solid drills, almost necessarily made of metal. In cer- 

 tain instances the shapes of bowl cavities are of an irregular form, 

 indicative of the use of a loose drill head; which supposition, if correct, 

 would suggest the use of either a pump or strap drill, probably the 

 former, either of which implements ai)pear3 to have been unknown to 

 the natives prior to the advent of the whites. The polishing of this 

 type of pipe is so perfect as to raise a suspicion of w^hite influences. 

 The common observance on pipes of this type of marks which seem 

 to be those of the file suggests white man's tools in fashioning them. 

 The fine lines cut on many of these pipes would inJicate the possible 

 use of steel tools; inlaid eyes suggest modern methods. Carving in 

 the round as perfectly as is done in pipes of this type also implies 

 modern influences and the presence of the white man, as do objects of 

 copper covered with silver found in contact with these pipes. Besides 

 this, the knowledge of the existence of the elephant and the finding in 

 the mounds articles of undoubted European origin are all suggestive 

 of the comparative modern date of pipes of the curved-base mound 

 type. It does not of necessity follow that these pijies were of foreign 

 manufacture, but probably they were the handiwork of fur traders and 

 hunters catering to native trade demands. The figures on these pipes 

 are doub*"less of totemic significance, and, with few exceptions, face the 



