Till in flame they burst, and kindled;
And erect upon the mountains,
Gitche Manito, the mighty,
Smoked the calumet, the Peace Pipe,
As a signal to the nations,” &c.
The tribes of the Missouri make their pipes of a kind of stone called Catlinite, from the red pipe stone quarries upon the head waters of that river, the colour of which is brick red. These stones, when first taken out of the quarry are soft, and easily worked with a knife, but on exposure to the air become hard and take a good polish. The pipes of the Rocky Mountain Indians are some of them wrought with much labour and ingenuity of an argillaceous stone of a very fine texture, found at the north of Queen Charlotte’s Island. This stone is of a blue black colour, and in character similar to the red earth of the Missouri quarry.
The Calumet or “pipe of peace” of the Sioux Indians is thus described by Irving. “The bowl was of a species of red stone resembling porphyry, the stem was six feet in length, decorated with tufts of horse hair dyed red. The pipe bearer stepped within the circle, lighted the pipe, held it towards the sun, then towards the different points of the compass, after which he handed it to the principal chief. The latter smoked a few whiffs, then, holding the head of the pipe in his hand, offered the other end to their visitor, and to each one successively in the circle. When all had smoked, it was considered that an assurance of good faith and amity had been interchanged.” The use of the Uspogan or Calumet among the Eythinyuwak, appears not to have been an original practice of the Tinne, but was introduced with tobacco by Europeans; while among the Chippeways, the plant has been grown from the most ancient times.
Among the most uncultivated and uncivilized of nations, the pipe is an object upon which is exercised all their ingenuity, and in the decoration of which is concentrated all their taste. One might almost classify the races of the world by means of a good collection of their pipes, and not stray very far from the order resulting from more scientific processes.
In the East, there is existing an almost incessant habit of smoking; and the pipe is the prelude of all official acts, of all conversations, and of all social relations. The Oriental seizes his pipe in the morning, and scarcely relinquishes it till he goes to bed. Here there is generally a special functionary—the pipe-bearer—as an appendage to all officials. When the Sultan goes abroad, his pipe-bearer is with him. In families of respectability, the care of the pipes is the exclusive attribute of one or more servants, who occupy the highest grade of the domestic establishment; and thus dignity is given to the pipe, even in a country where less dignity is allowed to the fairer portion of the community than in more highly cultivated countries.
In the Museum of the Botanic Gardens at Kew, are pipes and stems carved out of boxwood, as used in Sweden; also pipe-bowls of pine and other woods made by the native Indians near Sitka in North-West America, and brought home from a late expedition. The latter are rude, but quite equal in elegance to many which adorn the windows of fancy tobacconists and cigar divans in this metropolis of the civilized world.