This is a sacred gift
And must always be treated in a holy way.
In this bundle is a sacred pipe
Which no impure man or woman should ever see.
With this sacred pipe
You will send your voices to Wakan Tanka.
The Great Spirit, Creator of All.
Your Father and Grandfather.
With this sacred pipe
You will walk upon the Earth
Which is your Grandmother and Mother.
All your steps should be holy.
The bowl of the pipe is red stone
Which represents the earth.
A buffalo calf is carved in the stone facing the center
And symbolizes the four-legged creatures
Who live as brothers among you.
The stem is wood and represents all growing things.
Twelve feathers hang from where the stem fits the bowl
And are from the Spotted Eagle.
These represent all the winged brothers
Who live among you.
All these things are joined to you
Who will smoke the pipe and send voices to Wakan Tanka.
When you use this pipe to pray,
You will pray for and with every thing.
The sacred pipe binds you to all your relatives;
Your Grandfather and Father,
Your Grandmother and Mother.
The red stone represents the Mother Earth
On which you will live.
The Earth is red
And the two-legged creatures who live upon it are also red.
Wakan Tanka has given you a red road--
A good and straight road-to travel,
And you must remember that all people
Who stand on this earth are sacred.
From this day,
The sacred pipe will stand on the red earth,
And you will send your voices to Wakan Tanka.
There are seven circles on the stone
Which represent the seven rites
In which you will use the pipe.
~ Ed McGaa
In his book, Mother Earth Spirituality, Native Oglala Lakota Ed McGaa teaches the history of these rituals, the methodology, and the openness of the Red Road for all who wish to tread her path.
As he explained the need for people of all walks to turn back to the root of our origin, the earth, it became of great importance to me that I should walk with my heart bound to the Red Road. As don Juan said, the purpose of life was to find a path with heart, and follow it.
The case is unceremonious, but the ends are neatly stitched with care. The roll is held shut by wrap or tie.
The pipe rests inside, its feathers carefully laid back along side the stem.
I coiled wire around the feathers’ ends, forming loops at the tips. The pipe has necklace clasps attached using a flute binding style knot and soldered metal loops. If a feather needs to be replaced or I am doing a fire ceremony at a time when the feathers need to be removed, they can be taken off a s replaced quickly and easily.
The stem is made from a stick that I used as a fire poking stick for over a year. When I read McGaa’s book, I set out immediately to bore a hole down the center of this piece.
Once that was done, I cut a piece of leather to wrap the stem and punched holes along both edges. I didn’t have any leather cord or shoelaces even, but I had an old bow string - the sinew string was perfect for this application.
The bowl was sold as Ohio Pipestone.
There was more documentation with it, but I haven’t found it so far. The bowl is a true artifact that came from a private museum that was being sold in an estate auction.
I use bees wax (sometimes candle wax) to seal the union between bowl and stem. You want this to be removable, but be careful, when it heats up it can slide out - and these are fairly delicate.
The bow string is guided between the holes like lacing a shoe. Both ends of the leather were secured by soaking thread in wood glue and using a binding wrap.
Learn more about the Oglala Lakota:
Click below for a history of the Lakota people:
Click the icon to download the Lakota language learning app
Click the flag to go to the current official site for the Oglala Lakota Nations.
Thanks for checking out some more of my work! As always, I hope you enjoyed witnessing as much as I enjoyed creating!
© Photos and words by @albuslucimus, except where otherwise indicated.
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