Pipes 



141 



long was fitted into the base of the bowl, through 

 which the smoke was drawn. Not until European 

 influence began to be felt in America were pipes made 

 in one piece. Pre-European pipes invariably consist 

 of two parts. 



These pipe-bowls are all made of stone — of granite, 

 porphyry, or basalt. The method of manufacture 

 was thus described by Catlin in 1841 : ' They shape 

 the bowls of their pipes from the solid stone, which 

 is not quite as hard as marble, with nothing but a 

 knife. The Indian makes the hole in the bowl of 

 the pipe by drilling into it a hard stick, shaped to 

 the desired size, with a quantity of sharp sand and 

 water, kept constantly in the hole, subjecting him 

 therefore to very great labour and the necessity of 

 much patience.' The stem was made of a young 

 ash-stalk, the pith of which had been drawn out. 



Among the Indians smoking was more than a 

 mere habit or practice : it was intimately connected 

 with their national, social, and religious life. In 

 every event the pipe had its significance; war was 

 instituted by sending round the tribe the reddened 

 pipe of the chief to summon his warriors, and the 

 treaty of peace ratified by the puff of the calumet ; 

 it was the Indian's constant companion in every 

 circumstance of life, and in death it was buried with 

 him with his bow and arrows, so that he might not 

 be tobaccoless in the happy hunting-ground. The 

 passing of the calumet from mouth to mouth, the 

 solemn inspiration of one puff of smoke, was the 

 pledge of peace and amity, the gage of honour 

 between all whose lips touched it. The Norsemen 



