Long Pipe - NVP04

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About This Pipe

This beautiful pipe was made by a young man who said he learned pipemaking from his grandfather. Several years ago when he needed money for some serious dental work he pawned the pipe at an upscale jewelry store in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Unfortunately, he was never able to retrieve the pipe and we rescued it from the attic of the store in the hope that it finds a good home! (NOTE: Since we don't know if the maker was Navajo, Lakota or even Native American we are selling this pipe "as-is". )

Stone mouthpiece with metal tube insert.
Joint covered with woven band.

Stone bowl.

Oak stem with inlay strip top and bottom of what appears to be mahogony.

More Long Pipes

Lakota Catlinite Pipes

The Sacred Pipe

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The pipe figures into Native American culture in many ways and for each culture there are different uses and traditions. The intent of this article is not to provide a comprehensive explanation of the sacred significance of the pipe in Native American cultures, but to just offer a brief idea of how pipes have been and are used by Native Americans.

On first contact with Native Americans, the French used the word "calumet" [from the Latin "calamus", for reed] to refer to the sacred pipe. Early pipes of the Miami and Illinois were hollow canes decorated with feathers.

The Lakota sacred pipe, the chanunpa, is an important part of healing ceremonies conducted by medicine men. Once a pipe is made, it must be blessed in a special ceremony that connects it to the original sacred pipe that was brought to the Lakota by the White Buffalo Calf Woman. This is to ensure that a good spirit resides in the pipe.

The Sacred Calf Pipe bundle is the most sacred object of the Sioux. It was brought to them by a messenger (White Buffalo Calf Woman) from wakan tanka (the holy being, the great mystery, the source of all healing).

The sacred pipe of the Osage is the Niniba.

Pipes currently in use by the Plains Indians are made of a catlinite bowl and a separate wooden stem, usually made of alder or ash.

The bowl can be a simple L shape or a T shape or can be a carving of an effigy or other symbol.

The primary source of Catlinite is in Minnesota along Pipestone Creek which is a tributary of the Big Sioux River. This area under control of the US National Park Service is now named Pipestone National Monument. Native Americans can apply for a permit to quarry catlinite there. Catlinite is named for the New York artist George Catlin (1796-1872), who was the first white person to visit the Minnesota quarry from which it was obtained.

Catlinite, a very deep red stone, is symbolic of blood of the ancient people and the buffalo.

Although the words catlinite and pipestone are often used interchangeably, there can be a great difference in the two stones. Catlinite, with its dark red color and exceptional ability to be carved, is only found in the Minnesota mine. Pipestone found elsewhere in the US and the world has a different composition, is often a pale terra cotta color, and cannot be carved like catlinite.