Smoking Pipe

While the ideology of smoking remained rooted in shamanism, the frequency of smoking pipes in the archaeological record indicates that at least some form of the practice became commonplace over time. This is confirmed by accounts of Indigenous smoking practices by early European explorers and missionaries. Pipe technology also evolved over time, first with the replacement of the blocked-end tube by a tube bent to form an elbow. Shamanistic imagery was also sometimes added in the form of figures carved in relief, such as the stone effigy pipe shown here. The figures often represented powerful animal familiars, such as turtles or salamanders, which could move between the realms of water and land, or various birds, which could move between the realms of land and air. These are thought to signify the shaman's ability to move between the land of the living and the spirit world. The frequency of pipes increased once they began to be made of ceramic. The second and third specimens shown here illustrate how some were decorated with motifs similar to those employed in pottery making, while ceramic effigy pipes were also produced. The information about this artifact comes from the project Empathic Traditions; please see empathictraditions.ca for more information. Image by Mark Zelinski.