Pipe bag
A pipe bag or tobacco bag is a common item used by some Native American ceremonial people. A pipe bag may be used to carry a sacred pipe, such as a Chanunpa.
Styles
Although styles and sizes vary between Nations, geographical locations, and medicine societies, many have certain elements in common: a long neck of cloth or leather, a rim which is often beaded or quilled, a lower panel, or pouch, also beaded or quilled, and a fringe at the bottom. Some bags are left unadorned.
Many of the more recent bags have a quilled "slat panel" between the pouch and the fringe, while many of the older ones do not.[citation needed]
Examples and symbolism
The Sioux Quilled Pipe Bag at left is decorated with quillwork forming flora and fauna, buffalo and caterpillars. The "cocoon" design symbolizes spiritual and physical transformation,[1] and the Sioux spirit Yumni, the whirlwind, responsible for the four directions of the world.[2]
Both the moth, which breaks free of its confining cocoon, and the untamable wind, are viewed as spirits impossible to contain.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Taylor, Colin (1987) "Wakanyan: Symbols of Power and Ritual of the Teton Sioux". The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, VII, 2 (237-257).
- ^ Walker, James R. (1917) "The Sun Dance and Other Ceremonies of the Oglala Division of the Teton Dakota" Anthropological Paper, Vol. 16, 2. American Museum of Natural History
- ^ Wissler, Clark (1902) "Field Notes on the Dakota Indians Collected on Museum Expedition." Ms. 1911 of the American Museum of Natural History, New York
- ^ Mallery, Garrick 1893 "Picture Writing of the American Indians." Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, D.C.
References
- Painter, John W. (2003) "A Window on the Past". Cincinnati: Cincinnati Art Museum. p. 38