Pipe bag

The pipe bag or tobacco bag was a ubiquitous item amongst the Native Americans of North America. Although styles and sizes varied widely between tribes and geographical locations, all usually had certain elements in common: A long neck of cloth or leather, a rim which was often beaded or quilled, a lower panel, or pouch, also beaded or quilled, and a fringe at the bottom. Although it is hard to make too many generalities, many of the later examples had a quilled 'slat panel' between the pouch and the fringe, while many of the earlier ones did not. Quillwork was also much more prevalent before the late 18th and early 19th century, when beadwork- made with beads obtained from Europeans- really became the norm. Contrary to the popular image of the peace pipe, "pipe bags" were often used to carry a pipe into battle, or by a tribal elder to hold tobacco in ceremonial situations. Scant evidence remains, in the form of oral histories recorded or transcribed during the last hundred and fifty years, of the various societies that might have conducted such ceremonies. The first "pipe bag" pictured below, ca. 1870, is decorated with rare cocoon imagery.*


*As discussed by Colin Taylor in his paper "Wakanyan: Symbols of Power and Ritual of the Teton Sioux" (1987: 237-257).

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Sioux Quilled Tobacco Bag, sinew-sewn on hide with red, green, yellow, and purple quillwork forming flora and fauna, buffalo and caterpillar, images on recto. Verso decorated with horizontal red quilled lines. Lower panel composed of a wide span of quilled rawhide slats finishing with hide fringe and brass bells, quilled hide thong terminating with tin cones hang from opening, length (excluding fringe) 24".

As discussed by Colin Taylor in his paper "Wakanyan: Symbols of Power and Ritual of the Teton Sioux" (1987: 237-257), the cocoon is a symbol that evokes powerful imagery. As an emblem suggestive of several connotations, the most easily understood being spiritual and physical transformation, the cocoon also evokes recognition of the Sioux spirit Yumni, the whirlwind, responsible for the four directions of the world (Walker 1917 :85). Both the moth, which breaks free of its confining cocoon and the untamable wind, are viewed as spirits impossible to contain. Clark Wissler described in his 1907 field notes the "whirlwind bug," a creature with spiral grooves that creates small dust clouds along the ground. By this action, the cloud was thought to confuse the enemy and make him loose his senses (Wissler 1907: 119).

Similar iconography can be suggested in this tobacco bag. The striped S-shaped devices could suggest the "whirlwind bug," with alternating purple and yellow quillwork depicting the spiral grooves. The enclosed diamond above the buffalo's head may represent a cocoon, leading to the idea of the "Whirlwind Buffalo." As noted by Taylor, such a representation is shown...taken from [Gerrick] Mallery (1893: 604). Here a cocoon is clearly shown above the head of the bear and represents the whirlwind phenomena... The symbolism of the cocoon on the Crazy Horse shirt can thus be interpreted with some confidence (Taylor 1987: 252). The combination of bear and cocoon or buffalo and cocoon implicates the harnessing these animals' powers.

Photographed and described in A Window of the Past (Painter 2003: 38) and "Moths and the Plains Indian: Their Fascinating Connection" (Painter in Taylor and Dempsey 2005: 185-192).

Mallery, Garrick1893 "Picture Writing of the American Indians." Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, D.C.

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." Anthopological Paper, Vol. 16, 2. American Museum of Natural History.

Wissler, Clark1902 "Field Notes on the Dakota Indians Collected on Museum Expedition." Ms. 1911 of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
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