194 



CALUMET 



[b. a. e. 



chief deity. About the mouthpiece of 

 the shaft soft blue feathers are fastened, 

 symboHzing the sky wherein the powers 

 abide. Then a woodpecker's head, with 

 the mandible turned back upon the red 

 crest, is bound to the shaft near the 

 mouthpiece, indicating that the bird may 

 not be angry; the inner side of the man- 

 dible thus exposed is painted blue, show- 

 ing that the chief deity is looking down 

 on it as the bird's spirit moves along the 

 groove to reach the people; then about 

 the middle of the shaft feathers from the 

 owl are bound and the undecorated end 

 of the shaft is thrust through the breast, 

 throat, and mouth of the duck, the breast 

 reaching the feathers of the owl. The 

 end of the shaft projects a little from the 

 duck's mouth, that a pipe may be fitted 

 to the shaft. The duck' s head, therefore, 

 always faces downward toward the earth 

 and water. Then 10 tail-feathers of the 

 brown eagle, made sacred by sacrifice to 

 the chief deity, are prepared for binding 

 on one of the stems; a buckskin thong is 

 threaded through a hole made in the 

 quill midway of its length and another 

 thong is passed through a hole near the 

 end of the quill in such manner that the 

 feathers may be expanded like a fan on 

 these two thongs. The two little balls of 

 white down from inside the thigh of the 

 white male eagle, representing repro- 

 ductive power, are secured to the ends of 

 these thongs and this fan-like wing is se- 

 cured to the side of the blue-colored shaft 

 in such way that it may swing when the 

 shaft is waved to simulate the movements 

 of an eagle. Such is the female shaft, 

 representing the night, the moon, the 

 north, as well as kindness and gentleness; 

 it cares for the people; it is the mother. 

 Every bird represented on these shafts is 

 a leader, a chief, a god; the eagle, the 

 owl, the woodpecker, and the duck are 

 chiefs, respectively, of the day, the night, 

 the trees, and the water. Then 7 tail- 

 feathers from the white eagle, pre- 

 pared in similar fashion, are secured to 

 the green-colored shaft; but while these 

 are being prepared no song is sung, be- 

 cause the white eagle is not sacred, never 

 being a sacrificial victim, and having less 

 power than the brown eagle, for it is war- 

 like and inclined to injure, and so can 

 not lead, but must follow. Hence the 

 green-colored shaft, the male, is prepared, 

 painted, and decorated after the other. 



From Charlevoix ( 1 721 ) it is 1 earned that 

 the calumet is strictly the stem or shaft of 

 what is commonly called the calumet pipe; 

 that in those designed for public cere- 

 monial purposes this shaft is very long, 

 and "is of light wood, painted with dif- 

 ferent colors, and adorned with the heads, 

 tails, wings, and feathers of the most 

 beautiful birds," which he believed were 



"onh' for ornament" rather than for 

 symbolic expression; that among those 

 nations among which the calumet is in 

 use it is as sacred as are the wampum 

 belts and strands among the nations 

 among whom these things are in use; that 

 Pawnee tradition asserts that the calumet 

 is a gift from the sun; that the calumet 

 is in use more among the southern and 

 western nations than among the eastern 

 and northern, and it is more frequently 

 employed for peace than for war. He 

 says that if the calumet is offered and 

 accepted it is the custom to smoke in the 

 calumet, and the engagements contracted 

 are held sacred and inviolable, in justso far 

 as such human things are inviolable. Fer- 

 rot also says that the Indians believe that 

 the sun gave the calumet to the Pawnee. 

 The Indians profess that the violation of 

 such an engagement never escapes just 

 punishment. In the heat of battle, if an 

 adversary offer the calumet to his oppo- 

 nent and he accept it, the weapons on 

 both sides are at once laid down; but to 

 accept or to refuse the offer of the calu- 

 met is optional. There are calumets for 

 various kinds of public engagements, and 

 when such bargains are made an ex- 

 change of calumets is usual, in this man- 

 ner rendering the contract or bargain 

 sacred. 



When war is contemplated, not only 

 the shaft but the feathers with which it 

 is dressed are colored red, but the feath- 

 ers only on one side may be red, and it is 

 claimed that from the disposition of the 

 feathers in some instances it is possible to 

 know to what nation the calumet is to be 

 presented. By smoking together in the 

 calumet the contracting parties intend to 

 invoke the sun and the other gods as wit- 

 nesses to the mutual obligations assumed 

 by the parties, and as a guaranty the one 

 to the otlier that they shall be fulfilled. 

 This is accomplished by blowing the 

 smoke toward the sky, the four world- 

 quarters, and the earth, with a suitable 

 invocation. The size and ornaments of 

 the calumets which are presented to per- 

 sons of distinction on occasions of moment 

 are suited to the requirements of the case. 

 When the calumet is designed to be em- 

 ployed in a treaty of alliance against a 

 third tribe, a serpent may be painted on 

 the shaft, and perhaps some other device 

 indicating the motive of the alliance. 



There were calumets for commerce and 

 trade and for other social and political 

 purposes; but the most important were 

 those designed for war and those for 

 peace and brotherhood. It was vitally 

 necessary, however, that they should be 

 distinguishable at once, lest through 

 ignorance and inattention one should 

 become the victim of treachery. The 

 Indians in general chose not or dared not 



