24 Tin: AMl-JilCAS MrsiJM Joru.XAI. 



of Xatiinil History wa-^ \cry <iirat liotli l>y tin president and officials of 

 the Oriental \\ lialin^- ( 'onipany ami liy ilie \ a rions station master^ and cap- 

 tains of the shi])s. Not only did the coniijany ])resent all of the skeletons 

 to the Musemn, hut also ua\c e\cry facility foi- proM'cntinj^ seientific uoi'k. 



'I'his whaling company is the lai-<i-est in the woi'ld, notwithstandiiii; that 

 the indnsti-y in .lapan dates i)ack only ahont hfteen years. Snperioi- 

 methods are ns<'d and liy making' hot!) whale flesh and hinhher ser\c as 

 food, the prodnet of the industry is disposed of in the most profitahle way. 



.\fter seeint;- the skeletons safely on t)oaf(| the \\ Clsli I'rinee 1 left Japan. 

 <;-oin<i- directly to Kf^ypt. touring afterward thronf,di Italy, Austria, (Germany, 

 Hel^iuni, l-'raneeand Knji^land to inspect the zoolofjical gardens and mu.seums 

 and do eomparati\c work on the study colleetions in the various institutions. 



THE MEDICINE PIPE 



ITS KiriAI. OF PKAYKHS .\XD SONO.S GIVEN TO THE MfSEfM I\ VALt ATH.E 



PHOXOCRAPH RECORDS 



Hi/ Clnd U'i.s.slrr 



IX the exhihit for the Plains Indians stands a magnificent medicine 

 pijx'. This is one of the most imj)()rtant medieine l(nndle> of the 

 Hlackfoot Indians; when lielonging to them the pipe and its acces- 

 sories were ne\cr unwrapj)ed except with the appropriate eeremony and 

 never spoken of lightly. That it should he exposed tf) your gaze from day 

 to day, as it now is, woidd shock excn the most hardened iconoclast of that 

 trihe. There once came to \ isit the Museiuu a mixcd-hlood Piegan, long 

 schooled and pracliced in the ways of the white man; hut when looking 

 at the e\hil)it for the Plains Indians he shrank away from the sight of that 

 great J^ipe and asked that we allow him to walk on the other side of the 

 hall. To give reasons why these people so feel toward this object would he 

 a long story and helongs rather to the scientific interest and purpose of the 

 Mu.seum, w hile our present fancy takes us in another more human direction. 

 That this pipe can he e.xhihited here is another testimonial to the dexo- 

 tion of The-Bear-One. We had hoj^ed to recoid fully the ritiud and other 

 information pertaining to the medicine pipe as a contrihution to the Mu- 

 seum's investigation of Plains culture and, knowing thai our friend was 

 formerly a medicine-pipe keeper, selectecl him to gixc that itd'ormation. 

 He, like others of his kind, freely gave us such information as we asked for, 

 told us how the first j>ipe was handed down hy the Thimder, how the bundle 



