Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and CommerceBillings, E. R.
History
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce
Billings, E. R.
Tobacco -- History; Tobacco industry -- History; Tobacco use
The Chippewas are also celebrated for their pipes, which are cut out
of a close-grained stone of a dark color; and Professor Wilson, of
Toronto, states that Pobahmesad, or the Flier, one of the famed
pipe-sculptors, resides on the Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.
The old Chippewa has never deviated from the faith of his fathers, as
he still adheres to all their rites and ceremonies. He uses the red
pipe-stone and other materials in the production of his pipes, which
are ingenious specimens of sculpture. The calumet, or pipe of peace,
is still an object of special reverence with the Indian tribes, and
the pipe-stem is ornamented with six or eight eagle's feathers. Each
tribe has an official who takes charge of the calumet, which he keeps
rolled up in a bearskin robe; and it's never exposed to view or used,
except when the chief enters into a treaty with some neighboring
chief. On these occasions the pipe is taken out of its covering by the
Indian dignitary, ready charged with the "holy weed," when it is
smoked by all the chiefs, each one taking only a single breath of
smoke, which is regarded as implementing the treaty. The pipe is then
rolled up in its robe of fur, and stowed away in the lodge of its
keeper until it is again required. The war pipe is simply a tomahawk,
with a perforated handle communicating with the bowl, which is
opposite the sharp edge of the weapon. When the Indians joined the
British as allies during the American war, they had to be supplied
with iron tomahawks of the native pattern, before they could enter the
field as allies.
[Illustration: Sculptured pipe.]
Many tribes of Indians use herbs of various kinds to mix with tobacco
to reduce its strength, as they are in the habit of exhaling the smoke
from the nostrils, and not from the mouth. By the adoption of this
means a much smaller quantity of tobacco suffices to produce the
soothing influence on the nervous system so well known to votaries of
the weed.
Longfellow, in his great Indian epic of the Song of Hiawatha, has
portrayed with graphic power in pleasing verse the mysterious legends
describing the birth or institution of the peace-pipe by Gitche
Manito, "The Master of Life;" and a few extracts from "Hiawatha" may
be interesting to illustrate the deep significance of the ideas which
the Indian holds regarding his relations to the Great Spirit of the
Universe, and of the esteem with which he views the peace-pipe, which
in the words of Catlin "has shed its thrilling fumes over the land,
and soothed the fury of the relentless savage."
Longfellow, in the opening of his poem, says:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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