Folks, me being a small part native american, I read and study quite of Indian stuff. When reading I find a lot of references to calumets or peace pipes. My question is who do we not see more of the calumets etc. at rondies, or offered for sale by vendors(on line or in person)? It seams that most of what is available are smoking hawks etc, or white man style pipes. It seems to me that more true peace pipes should be in evidence. I am searching for vendors that offer calumets as such for sale, and am finding very little out there for sale. Was not the peace pipe used more than we protray it today in our reinacting. Your thoughts, opnions, and sources would me much appreciated. yours arkansawwind

There used to be some at Pow Wows and 'Vous around here,many were reservation perios materials/construction,I used to make some pre 1840 with Catlinite bowls and beed wraps,quills and such, I sold some but the tourist trade is supported by the plastic stuff for ten bucks not a $200+ Museum quality replica, I suspect that good ones can still be had via commisioning the maker, that is how I started getting most of my orders after my stuff was in a couple of local shops for a while, like gunbuilding and a lot of these things it is hard to get back a fair price on an object that has 20-40 plus hours in it, I got out of it nearly ten years ago, sometimes you have to choose which things you have time for and which you don't.

arkansawind!!!Research it and built your own!!!!!The first NA didnt buy one,they made theirs.Research your tribe and get with it,winter is here so what else you got to do after hunting season????"Whitemans peace pipe",makes me wonder of their sencerity,peace pipe and a weapon all in one,oxie moron.
trg might be the place to start!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go to Google type in Smithsonian Museum Camulets, there is a lot of information just waiting for you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Walking Crow,

Wind, Have you seen the pipes from Crazy Crow? They have kits for making your own. Theirs are available with different styles of pipestone and with wooden pipe stems up to 26" long. Look them up as "Indian Pipes." Shoot sharp, Mike

A kit would be a good way to go, and would offer the experience and end product without having to purchase a chunk of Pipestone and all the materials seperately, I liked Willow for the stems the pithy core burns out easily with a hot wire, I never found a grub that was interested in eating his way through, I do not know how much of that is real and how much is BS, it may be like the 25lb Bullfrog...20 lbs of Bull and 5 lbs. of Frog....

Look up www.atlantacutlery.com pg16 itm#600720 made by a Navajo artist,Francine Martinez and you get a Certificate of Authenticity.Not an endorsement just an other source.1-800-883-0300
trg is pipestone the same as soap stone?Got an antique bed warming stone I believe is soap stone.

Pipestone (Catlinite) is different from soap stone but may be closely related, it is only quarried(found) in two places in N.America I believe, Minnisota and Arizona if I recall, Mike R may chime in and give some data on this type of stone, I found the best way to finish the polish was to grab your nose with thumb and forefinger and wipe the "oil" onto and into the stone, it is really neat stuff to work with, a friend of mine gave me two 5gallon buckets of big chunks many years ago which got me interested in it, it is also used to carve effigy figures for necklaces and braclets, I don't know if I have any pics left of some stuff I made with it, second wife was a bit on the vengfull side, I lost two dozen reference books (fur trade era) and boxes of neat stuff, but life goes on, wife number three left amicably... with everything I had (VBG)

Re to Mike N, Yep Mike ,crazy crow was the first place I looked. They seem to have more native american stuff than any other vendor I have found. I am sure they arent the only ones, but they are the best that I know about. Fellas making my own was what I had in mind to do, just am needing help on research sources. Like most everybody, I try to research my projects to make them as authentic as I can, yours arkansaw

Go here
1) http://anthro.amnh.org/anthrop...lic/north_public.htm
- put in pipe as a search term - 77 pages worth

2) http://www.splendidheritage.com/nindex.html
select pipe bowls-stems under Category then click Display

Pipestone was generally only used by those tribes originating in the Minnesota area and later with tribes they traded with i.e. Sioux, Cheyenne, and Kiowa

Soapstone was more widely used and was favored in the west by the Blackfeet, Crow, Shoshone, Flathead, et al

Not all pipes were ceremonial and those that are ceremonial are generally made and or given under strict rules - be aware that many tribes consider them part of their "religion" and frown upon those building/using them without being part of that "religion". IMO that is something to be VERY much respected and is also why one does not see them being used and/or sold at rondies or by general vendors.
As to calumet - technically it refers to the ceremonial pipe stems and not to the whole pipe since it is the stem that "connects" one with the earth as represented by the bowl and the Great Spirit....
Here's a pretty good overview of calumets
http://faculty.marianopolis.ed...edia/calumetpipe.htm

Thanks, GW, I was hoping you'd step in. Good doin's, for sure. Shoot sharp, Mike

Catlinite [the red clay pipestone]is a hard sedimentary clay found mainly inthe Great Lakes area. Soapstone is a talc bearing metamorphic rock. Both are soft enough for carving and tight enough for smoking. The Calumets were used up and down the Mississippi as well as in western tribal lands. Calumets are mentioned as important ceremonial objects by 17th century French explorers. The Quapaw in Arkansas, for example, used them. I don't see them as common smoking pipes for whites, who would have used other types.

Pipestone can be purchased from the mines in Minnesota. There are two main sources. One is commercial in nature but has a low quality stone. The other is the protected and religiously significant mine with very high quality stone. One must make contact with an authorized indian who will sell to you. The stone is available but probably almost prohibitively expensive. I had several pieces a number of years ago and had started two pipes but it all got lost in a move.

Yeah, I bought a low quality catlinite stone from a trader big enough to carve into a pipe bowl for $15 if I recall. I have the bowl mostly finished and am working on a cane stem--not making it into a true Calumet.

Rather than a true calumet, which does imply some ceramonial use I think...why not make a smaller catlinite mic-mac style pipe...they were pretty common I think, and were trade items on the great lakes...perhaps that type saw more general use during the heyday of the fur trade than the plains pipe...just my guess...that said, here is a link to what looks to be a great catalog of plains type pipes thats available if you want to follow up on them...
http://www.sherwoodspirit.com/item/576
TCA

This message has been edited. Last edited by: T.Albert,

hey awkansawwind, go to www.prairieedge.com they'r in southdakota
walks long

bp smokes

Heres a pretty good over view of Pipestone NM
http://www.nps.gov/pipe/index.htm
It is only abot 30 miles up the road from me.
I know a couple of pipemakers that make and sell Mic Mac and Keel pipes also effigy pipes. But they are not cheap.
When I used tobacco I had a Turtle effigy pipe by a fellow known as American Horse. Was a gift .

Howdy

Here is a source for pipes and materials: Pipekeepers. I'm pretty sure these folks are Indians.

The craftspeople who work with the Pipestone Indian Shrine Association are certainly Indians. I bought a pipe from them way back in 1972. I still have it.

There was a link posted above for Prairie Edge, which sells pipes. Crazy Crow also has them. I believe these are all Indian made, and I like the idea of supporting traditional craftsmen.

Good luck!

Crooked River

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Crooked River,

There was, maybe still is, a private soapstone quarry about 40 miles north of me in Skagit County. I'm not sure about now, but in the long ago, (late 60's) the owner didn't much care if folks took samples. I talked to him one day on the way home from a fishing trip and he considered a sample the amount you could conveniently carry in your front pocket. Because I actually asked, the sample he gave me caused my '62 Valiant station wagon to ride a bit low in the stern the rest of the way home.

I carved water and food bowls for my cat, and made a few dozen pipes out of it. I've often wondered if those bowls ended up in a museum or a landfill.

No, I don't have any left. No pipes either.

Three Hawks