Catch up on A History of the World in 100 Objects Listen to all the programmes so far, save them to your computer or sign up to the podcast for free What was the pipe used for?
This pipe was not simply smoked for pleasure but probably had a religious function. A shaman may have smoked it to evoke the otter as a representative of his clan, or as a spirit guide who would then accompany the shaman on a spiritual journey.
Tobacco has been smoked in North America for at least 2300 years and pipe smoking still remains an integral part of modern Native American culture. Tobacco was first brought to Europe in the early 1500s, where it quickly spread across Europe, Africa and Asia.
This pipe, as a material manifestation of past practice conjures the ephemeral smoke that bound the smoker to his or her clan lineage spirits and, when the smoking was communal, bound people to one another, just as I feel bound to this pipe, through the intimacy of the form and the imaginings of smoke it invokes.
When people were smoking what was called the “peace pipe” at a treaty negotiation – that is even more meaningful than to sign a document. It’s a way of sealing a deal not just legally but by giving a vow and confirming that to the wider universe. It’s really important to understand this idea of connection and relationship, it’s not just an individual act it’s a very collective act and a way of confirming and encoding and validating their prayers as being very serious.
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