Plains Indian pipes are commoner in collections than those from any other region. The Blackfoot preferred pipes of black stone, with acorn-shaped bowls reminiscent of those in use among the Micmac and other northeastern Algonquian tribes (Pl. V, No. 4), but throughout most of the Plains the favorite pipe was made of Minnesota catlinite, and was of Sioux type (Pl. V, Nos. 6–8). This type is common in museums and private collections. It has a tubular bowl set vertically on a long base which projects beyond the bowl as a pointed spur. This projecting base is also found in the monitor pipes, and the two types may be remotely related. Pipes of the Sioux type have been made in great numbers by both whites and Indians, and many of those in collections were probably manufactured by whites. Either early white traders, or the tribes on the eastern edge of the Plains originated the practice of inlaying the bowls and bases with lead. The pipe was cut to nearly its final form, and a clay mold made. Deep grooves were then cut in the stone to receive the lead, and the pipe was returned to the mold, and the metal poured. The metal and stone were then rubbed down to a smooth surface. Valuable pipes which had been broken were sometimes repaired in this way. [Illustration: PLATE V. AMERICAN INDIAN TOBACCO PIPES. 1–2. PAWNEE SACRED PIPES. 3. CHEYENNE SUN-DANCE PIPE. 4. BLACKFOOT PIPE. 5–7. CHEYENNE PIPES. 6–8. SIOUX PIPES. 9. PIPE TAMPER, SIOUX. 10. PIPE BAG, SIOUX.] All Plains Indian pipes, with the exception of the straight bone pipes previously noted, were provided with long, heavy, wooden stems. Some tribes preferred tubular, others flat stems. In ancient times most of the long pipe stems were probably split lengthwise, the smoke passage excavated, and the two halves glued together. Some of the northern and western tribes used a solid tubular stem which they pierced by an ingenious method. They selected a young ash shoot which had a small pith cavity in the center and caught a wood-boring grub. They made a hole in one end of the shoot and inserted the grub, closing the opening behind it. The shoot was then hung over a fire, and the grub, following the pith as the line of least resistance, drilled a hole through the shaft from end to end. When it emerged, it was captured and returned to the place where it had been found with appropriate thanks. Split tubular stems are rather unsatisfactory, as the halves are liable to warp and separate. The broad, flat pipe-stem was probably invented to give a wider surface for the glue and hence a firmer joint. It reached its highest development among the Dakota, and they seem to have been the inventors of the “puzzle stem,” a broad, flat stem pierced with designs so that the smoke passage had to make several turns between the pipe-bowl and mouth-piece. Pipe stems were often decorated with elaborate wrappings which helped to hold the halves together.