The Seven Pipes of the Dakota Sioux

Abstract

Ceremonial uses of the seven major pipes of the Dakota Sioux are described. According to the older generation the original pipe was made of bone and clay. After the calf bundle was presented to the Sioux nation, a stone pipe was used for religious purposes, and in fact from that time seven pipes were used. The first pipe was used to pray to the Great Spirit, which was done by pointing the pipe to the four winds and to heaven and earth. The pipe was filled with tobacco and pointed to the rising sun. Prayers were made to the Great Spirit that nothing would happen, and that everyone would be happy through the day. Then the pipe was lighted, and all the people that took part in the ceremony smoked the pipe. A pipe pointing to the east is a wish for a good day and that all will be happy through the day. When pointed to the west, it is a wish for a good rest and that no enemies will bother during the night. Pointed to the south is a wish for good health, and that the buffalo and other animals will not vanish. When pointed to the north, a prayer is made that the weather will not be severe, and yet that plenty of moisture will allow the grass to grow, so the animals will not vanish. When pointing to heaven, a prayer is made to the Great Spirit that all creatures and all the good scenery will not vanish. When pointing the pipe to the earth, they pray for the dead, and that someday they will join them somewhere. When the sun is setting, the pipe is again filled with tobacco and a prayer is made to the Great Spirit. The prayer of the Sun rise ceremony is repeated. The second pipe is called the Sun dance pipe. It is used only by the seven Sun dance chiefs, and Paper presented at a symposium on Plains Indian Religion held during the 26th Annual Plains Anthropo logical Conference, Lincoln, Nebraska, November 1968. in the Sun dance ceremony. The Sun dance chiefs supervise adoptions, marriages, and divorces. If a man or woman are going to get married they will first have to have permission from their parents. They then go before the Sun dance chiefs to get married. If the couple should happen to separate they will have to go before the Sun dance chiefs again before they are granted a divorce. The woman cannot marry again, and the man cannot go to any gathering. If it happens that they get married again, they are disgraced by the tribe. If another tribal member wants to marry into the Sioux tribe, he or she must go before the chiefs, or the council, and must be adopted into the tribe. This was accomplished by going through a ceremony before the chiefs to show that the individuals would be true and honest to the Sioux tribe. Before the adoptions, marriages, or divorces are granted the individual concerned smokes the pipe with the seven Sun dance chiefs. This is how the second pipe is used in the Sun dance ceremony. The third pipe is called the preamble pipe. When holding a council meeting, one person holds the pipe and points it toward the heavens. This is part of the preamble: Oh, my Great Spirit from above cast eyes down upon me a poor and weak, which I am but nothing more. Pity me Great Spirit the land which you have bestowed upon me. As my happy hunting grounds there as you said I was to multiply my people with content and happiness. That this council meeting today will all go well. The fourth pipe, the peace pipe, all chiefs smoke during the council meeting. When this pipe is filled, 30 persons can smoke it. When the pipe is smoked up it will be refilled again. They do this until the meeting is adjourned. The fifth pipe is called the sweat hut pipe, or the Medicine man pipe. This pipe is used in the case of sickness, and it also has a ceremonial