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SHAMAN'S SUCKING
TUBES

NORTH AMERICA
GLACIAL KAME & LATE STONE AGE
PAGE 1 OF 2 PAGES
COPYRIGHT APRIL 30, 2007 PETER A. BOSTROM

TUBE PIPE
NORTHERN INDIANA
PRIVATE COLLECTION

     This small tube pipe was found by Tom Bellinger while digging peat on his commercial operation in northern Indiana. This pipe is made of canal coal and shows no signs of having ever been smoked. It's very uniform in shape and the surface is polished. This is a Glacial Kame artifact that may date to somewhere between 700 to 800 B.C.

     Only one of the tube pipes from the Coal Draw cache in Wyoming was found intact, all the others are described as having been ritually broken. Evidence shows that the three steatite pipes illustrated in this article were probably broken while still inside their pipe bag because all the pieces were found very close together. Many of the missing pipe fragments have not been recovered because a thorough excavation would involve the removal of large blocks of sandstone weighing several tons. One of the pipes in the cache is represented by only one fragment. The other pipe described in this article, from northern Indiana, was found unbroken and in perfect condition.


TUBE PIPE
NORTHERN INDIANA
PRIVATE COLLECTION

    These two pictures show both ends of the Bellinger canal coal tube pipe from northern Indiana. The opening for the mouth is very small for a tube pipe, only about 1/4 of an inch (6mm) wide. The large opening is well carved and polished. Both of the openings are symmetrical and nicely done.

       The Coal Draw site pipes were made from several different materials. Some of the materials are not found locally. Half of the total group of twelve pipes from Wyoming are made of steatite. The other  pipes were made of sandstone, serpentinite, one is described as a white talc-like material, one is described as a light bluish material with black inclusions and another is described as an unidentified soft material. The pipe from northern Indiana is made of canal coal. All the pipes were made from softer stones that could be carved.


CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE TRIPLE IMAGE
TUBE PIPE
COAL DRAW SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

    This picture shows another view of one of the pipes from the Coal Draw site. It shows the small well formed opening used for inhaling everything from bad spirits, physical objects or even smoke (if it was ever used for that purpose).

          It would be difficult, if not impossible, to positively identify any particular tube pipe as ever having been used in a healing procedure by sucking or blowing. But since early accounts do describe sucking tubes made of stone we know that some were used for this purpose. Several observations do suggest reasons why the pipes from the Coal Draw site may have been particularly special objects and used in this way. But the main reasons are that none of the pipes show any signs of ever having been smoked, no residue could be found. Plus, one of the pipes was partially packed with red ochre. Special attention was also taken to make sure the pipes were "killed" or broken (except for one example) so no one else could ever use them again. Some of the pipes were engraved with mysterious looking animals and other shapes. The largest pipe has bird-like figures engraved on it. Their smooth rounded ends also would make very efficient sucking instruments. The pipe from northern Indiana has very smooth and rounded ends. It also does not show any signs of ever having been smoked.


CLICK ON PICTURES FOR LARGE TRIPLE IMAGES
TUBE PIPE
COAL DRAW SITE
NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

    These two pictures show the large ends of two of the pipes from the Coal Draw site. The example on the left, which is the longest pipe in the cache, shows some of the engraved lines on the very end. Some very faint engraved lines can also be seen on the upper right side of the pipe in the picture on the right. Both of these pipes are made of steatite. The opening on the pipe on the left measures 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and the pipe on the right measures 1.5 inches (3.6 cm) wide.

     The four pipes illustrated here are very well crafted. They were made from various types of reasonably soft carvable stone by grinding, polishing, drilling and scraping.  Some of the stones are also particularly colorful. What is apparent with all of the pipes illustrated here is that they were important items to the individuals who once owned them. They were used so much that some of the engraved lines on at least one example was worn smooth. We may never know for sure, but the primitive stone tools described here may have been used in countless healing ceremonies by a respected medicine man or shaman----someone who could communicate between the physical and the spirit world.

"REFERENCES"

1899, Mc.Guire, Joseph D., "Pipes and Smoking Customs of the American Aborigines, Based on Material in the U.S. National Museum," Report of the U.S. National Museum, Part I, pp. 383, 386-387 & 390.
1966
, Beals, Ralph L. & Hoijer, Harry, "An Introduction To Anthropology," p. 583.
1972
, Mails, Thomas E.,  "The Mystic Warriors of the High Plains," p. 112, 115 & 123.
1993, Frison, George C. and Norman, Zola Van, "Carved Steatite and Sandstone Tubes: Pipes For Smoking or Shaman's Paraphernalia," Plains Anthropologist, Vo., 38, No. 143, pp. 163-176.
1996, Fagan, Brian M., "The Oxford Companion To Archaeology," p. 591.
Personal communication with Tom Bellinger.

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