History

At an ancient time the Great Spirit, in the form of a large bird, stood upon the wall of rock and called all the tribes around him, and breaking out a piece of the red stone formed it into a pipe and smoked it, the smoke rolling over the whole multitude. He then told his red children that this red stone was their flesh, that they were made from it, that they must all smoke to him through it, that they must use it for nothing but pipes: and as it belonged alike to all tribes, the ground was sacred, and no weapons must be used or brought upon it.

-- Sioux account of the origin of the pipestone, as recorded by George Catlin, 1836.

Across the Great Plains, the stories of the pipestone differ from Sioux to Crow, from Blackfoot to Pawnee. Variation is one indication of the geographical extent to which the red stone and pipes were used and traded. The reverence with which the stories are passed down through generations is testimony to their importance.

Stone pipes were long known among the prehistoric peoples of North America; specimens from 2,000 years ago have been found at Mound City in present-day Ohio. Digging at this Minnesota quarry likely began in the 17th century, a time which coincided with the acquisition of metal tools from European traders. Carvers prized this durable yet relatively soft stone, which ranged from mottled pink to brick red. By all accounts this location came to be the preferred source of pipestone among the Plains tribes. By about 1700, though, the Dakota Sioux controlled the quarries and distributed the stone only through trade.

Ceremonial smoking marked the activities of the Plains people: rallying forces for warfare, trading goods and hostages, ritual dancing, and medicine ceremonies. Bowls, stems, and tobacco were stored in animal-skin pouches or in bundles with other sacred objects. Ashes were disposed of only in special places. Ornamental pipes were often valued possessions buried with the dead. There were as many variations in pipe design as there were makers. By the time George Catlin arrived here in 1836, the simple tubes of earlier times had developed into elbow and disk forms, as well as elaborate animal and human effigies. The Pawnee and Sioux were master effigy carvers. A popular pipe form was the T-shaped calumet. Calumets became widely known as peace pipes because they were the pipes whites usually encountered at treaty ceremonies.

As America grew westward in the 19th century, pipes found their way into white society through trade. Increasing contact between whites and Indians inspired new subject matter for carvers. Sometimes these effigies honored white politicians and explorers; sometimes the images were caricatures far from flattering. Pipes became a source of income for their makers, thus significant beyond religious use. To protect their source, the Yankton Sioux secured free and unrestricted access by an 1858 treaty. Even as the quarry became increasingly lucrative, American settlement threatened to comsume the square-mile Indian claim. Outsiders were digging new pits and extracting the sacred stone. In 1928 the Yanktons, now resettled on a reservation 150 miles away, sold their claim to the federal government. Pipestone National Monument was signed into existance in 1937 and opened to the public with quarrying limited to Indians.

Plains Indian culture has undergone radical change since the era of the free-ranging buffalo herds, yet pipecarving is by no means a lost art. Carvings today are appreciated as artworks as well as for ceremonial use. Once again, as commanded by the spirit bird in the Sioux story of its creation, the pipestone here is quarried by anyone of Indian ancestry. An age-old tradition continues in the modern world, ever changing yet firmly rooted in the past.