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CALUMET (Norm. Fr. form of chalumet, ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 69 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CALUMET (Norm. Fr. See also:form of chalumet, from See also:Lat. calamus, a See also:reed)  , the name given by the See also:French in See also:Canada to the " See also:peace-See also:pipe " of the See also:American See also:Indians . This pipe occupied among the tribes a position of See also:peculiar symbolic significance, and was the See also:object of profound veneration . It was smoked on all ceremonial occasions, even on declarations of See also:war, but its See also:special use was at the making of See also:treaties of peace . It was usually about 22 ft. See also:long, and in the See also:west the bowl was made of red pipestone (catlinite), a See also:fine-grained, easily-worked See also:stone of a See also:rich red See also:colour found chiefly in the Coteau See also:des Prairies west of Big Stone See also:Lake, Dakota . The quarries were formerly neutral ground among the warring See also:Indian tribes, many sacred traditions being associated with the locality and its product (See also:Longfellow, See also:Hiawatha, i.) . The pipe See also:stem was of See also:reed decorated with eagles' quills or See also:women's See also:hair . Native See also:tobacco mixed with See also:willow-bark or sumac leaves was smoked . The pipe was offered as a supreme See also:proof of hospitality to distinguished strangers, and its refusal was regarded as a grievous affront . In the See also:east and See also:south-east, the bowl was of See also:white stone, sometimes pierced with several stem holes so that many persons might See also:smoke at once . See See also:Joseph D . Macguire (exhaustive See also:report,64o pages), " Pipes andSmoking Customs of the American See also:Aborigines" in Smitkconi¢nReport (American See also:Bureau of See also:Ethnology) for 1897, vol. i.; and authorities quoted in Handbook of American Indians (See also:Washington,19o7) .

End of Article: CALUMET (Norm. Fr. form of chalumet, from Lat. calamus, a reed)
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