Peace pipes or calumets are used for religious rituals or ceremonies by North American natives. The Lakota people have a special story about how they got theirs.
A very, very long time ago, during a particularly harsh summer in Lakota land, two young warriors were sent out to look for game. Food was scarce and their people were starving.
It was buffalo country but there were none in sight to hunt. The young men kept walking until they came upon a hill. As they climbed, they saw a white buffalo calf appear at the top of the hill. As it came towards them, it turned into a beautiful woman.
“Quick! Let’s hide behind those thickets. We don’t know who the strange woman is,” said one of the men, pulling his companion away from the path. She was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. Her white buckskin dress, which shone in the bright sunlight, was exquisitely patterned with sacred designs in rainbow coloured porcupine quills. On her cheeks were painted two, round red dots. Her blue-black hair was loose and flowing, save a strand on the left, which was tied with a piece of buffalo fur. Her eyes were dark and sparkled with unnatural light. She carried with her a bundle and a sprig of sagebrush.
“She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve seen. I want to make her my wife,” whispered one of the men.
“Shh… Don’t speak that way of her. She’s someone wakan (sacred and holy)... Look at her face,” said the other. At this point, the woman turned and addressed them, “What is it that you wish for?” The first warrior came out and tried to grab her as if to claim her for himself. Suddenly a great cloud descended from nowhere and engulfed him. It lifted as quickly as it had arrived and all that was left of him was a pile of bones.
To the other warrior who watched in amazement she said, “Tell your people to prepare for my arrival. Tell that good man, your chief, who you call Standing Hollow Horn, that I’m coming to meet him. Tell your people to pitch their tents in a circle, leaving an opening to the north. At the centre of the circle, build a large north-facing tepee. Do this and I shall be there.”
The warrior rushed back and told his chief what had happened. They immediately began preparations for the arrival of Pteskawin, the White Buffalo Calf Woman. A large tepee was constructed with all the tents encircling it.
The White Buffalo Calf Woman came in her glittering dress. The chief welcomed her and led her into the tepee. She circled the interior of the tepee from east to west.
The chief addressed her with respect. “Sister, we welcome you. We understand that you have come to guide us.”
In the centre, she asked them to make an owanka wakan, a sacred altar made of red earth, with a buffalo skull and a three-stick rack to place the holy object she was going to give them. She then traced a pattern with her finger on the smoothened earth on the altar and showed them how to do it too. Circling the inside of the tepee once again, she stopped before the chief and opened her bundle. Inside was the chanunpa, the sacred pipe. Carved of red stone, it had an engraving of a tiny calf. She then held it out for all to see. “This is for you,” she said.
“Sister, we’re grateful. But as you know, the great famine is upon us and we have no meat to offer. All we can give you is water.” They dipped some wacanga (sweet grass) in a skin bag containing water and gave it to her.
The White Buffalo Calf Woman showed them how to use the pipe. She filled it with chan-sasha, red willow bark tobacco. Circling the tepee again in the manner of Anpetu-wi, the Great Sun, she said, “This represents the circle without end, the road of life.” She placed a dry buffalo chip on the fire and lit the pipe with it. This is peta-owihankeshni, the fire without end, to be passed on from generation to generation. The smoke that rises from this pipe is the breath of Tunkashila, the Great Spirit.”
She taught them how to pray using the right words and gestures. She taught them a pipe-filling song and how to lift the pipe towards the sky, to Grandfather Spirit above and down towards Unci, Grandmother Earth and afterwards to the four directions of the universe. “When you’re hungry, unwrap the pipe and lay it bare. A buffalo will come and you can easily kill it. It will provide food for all of you. The pipe will bring peaceful thoughts and blessings.’’
After this, the White Buffalo Calf Woman walked away northwards, just the way she had come. Just before she disappeared from view, she turned into a white buffalo calf.
Chief Standing Hollow Horn treasured the sacred pipe, taking it out only for prayers and ceremonies. Each time he did as the White Buffalo Calf Woman had instructed him, until he was a hundred years old. He passed on the knowledge to Chief Sunrise, his successor. The pipe has been passed on from generation to generation until this day. The White Buffalo Calf Woman had told the Lakota people that she would return when there was chaos and turmoil. They believe that she already has.
