Peace pipe
The pipe of peace ( Lakota : Chanunpa Wakan , Cheyenne : He'ohko ) or Calumet or Kalumet ( French chalumeau from northern French calyme "pipe plant" like Symphoricarpos albus ) is a ritual pipe used by some North American Indian tribes . Originally the ritual pipe - which initially only consisted of a painted pipe decorated with feathers without a pipe head - comes from the southeastern cultural area . From there, both the whistle and the rituals associated with it have spread among many prairie and plains tribes .
Emergence
The pipe of peace was probably made from ritually used suction pipes. In this form it was just a headless smoke pipe. Some Indian tribes used it to remove disease substances from the body. Other groups used the suction tube as a water drinking tube for the youth consecration of the girls because they were not allowed to touch the water with their lips. Only later did the smoke pipe have a head cut from catlinite , a clay stone from the sacred quarries in what is now Minnesota.
religion
In many Indian tribes on the Atlantic coast, in the river plains on the Gulf of Mexico and in the forests of the Appalachian Mountains, the belief in a higher being connected with the sky or the sun was widespread. The pipe of peace played an important role in the practice of religion: the medicine man stands in the middle of his trunk and holds a pipe of peace in his hands. He takes a deep drag and blows the smoke up towards the sun. The Indians always dedicate the first puff of their peace pipe to the sun. She is venerated as a heavenly father figure - as male power.
ritual
The New Völkerkunde dictionary defines the term ritual in a value-neutral manner as “the entirety of non-everyday actions that are carried out on a specific occasion with a traditionally established process”. Collective smoking can be an element of a multiphase ritual. In this sense the Indian pipe of peace is to be understood, which makes the rounds after successful negotiations. Rituals serve to resolve conflicts, they create identity and are both group-binding and group-affirming.
During the stopping of the pipe, sweetgrass and sage are burned. The smoke is said to attract positive and negative energies and drive away evil spirits. The sacred pipe is drawn through the smoke from north to south and east to west and is held clockwise in all six directions (west, north, east, south, above / heaven and below / earth). Then it is lit and four puffs are smoked for the grandfathers of the four cardinal points. Then it is passed, again clockwise, through the circle of those gathered.
Another important ritual object is the pipe bag, which the Lakota believe stores positive and negative energies and thus keeps the pipe in a constant energy field. Earth forces are absorbed through the fringes, which reach down to the earth, and are conducted into the bag. The original pipe is kept in a medicine bag together with various objects, for example - according to the Lakota tradition - the first pipe made by humans, and protected by a designated guardian. The 19th Guardian, Arvol Looking Horse, keeps them with other sacred items in a specially built eight-sided house. The bag is only shown to the public under special ritual arrangements and on special occasions, for example after the sun dance.
In science it is assumed that in human history the ritual burning of tobacco and other aromatic plants with psychotropic effects marked the beginning of actual smoking. The most widespread smoking utensil of this time is the calumet adorned with feathers, popularly known as the peace pipe.
symbolism
According to the Lakota legend, it was given to people by the mythical figure White Buffalo Calf Woman (Whope), along with the Seven Rites . According to tradition, the pipe symbolizes the person who stands on the axis of the world. The pipe bowl stands for mother earth, the pipe stem for the human ego and the human evolutionary path. The pipe pipe is made from the wood of the white ash , which represents the entire plant kingdom . In the union of these forces with the smoke, the soul, the prayer of the people rises to the Great Spirit . In this imagination, the pipe represents an umbilical cord that connects people with the universe. As with the other ceremonies, the awareness of wholeness , of circular processes and of the connection of the poles is an essential element of the peace pipe.
The peace pipe is a typical symbol of the “Indian in itself”. As a central symbol, the tribal whistles served as mediation between the chief on the one hand and the guardian spirits and gods on the other. It was also a symbol of hospitality. The person responsible for the pipe was often one of the most influential men in his tribe. Some Indian groups - such as the Pawnee, Iowa, and Ponca - only used the pipe in pairs. This type of use represented the division of the world into two parts, such as heaven and earth, man and woman, or day and night. The decorations on the pipe also followed strict symbolism. Owl feathers symbolized the night, eagle feathers the day and red grooves on the underside stood for the "path of peace". The calumet was sacred to the Indians, it was waved over the members of a tribe to help them achieve peace, happiness and wealth. Europeans quickly recognized the great importance of this symbol and used the peace pipe to achieve their goals, i.e. like a form of diplomatic passport.
Dispute settlement
In non-Indian reception, the peace pipe is a common symbol for a dispute settlement. The peace pipe was called the “holy pipe” by the prairie Indians and was used by several Indian ethnic groups - such as the Lakota , Cheyenne or Pawnee - for prayer and as a ritual object. The “holy pipe” was smoked primarily to conclude peace agreements, to “seal” friendships and during the conclusion of negotiations, deals and contracts; often combined with a "Kalumettanz". Therefore, the white settlers who came into contact with the ritual in these contexts coined the term peace pipe . This identification with peace is probably the reason for the popularity of the peace pipe, which overcomes denominational boundaries. In October 1986 religious leaders prayed together for peace: “This is how one experienced - sitting in a peaceful group of the same rank - the Pope next to the Buddhist Dalai Lama, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury and the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev, with the Jewish Chief Rabbi of Rome and the Islamic Sheikh from Morocco, with the Vice-President of the Lutheran and the President of the Reformed World Federation, with the Indian High Priests of the Zarathustra cult, Hinduism and the Sikhs; There were the general secretaries of Methodists, Baptists and Quakers united with the Orthodox metropolitans from Finland and Czechoslovakia, with long-bearded church princes from Soviet Armenia and Georgia, with barefoot African animists and feathered Indian medicine men from North America, who at the end solemnly lit their peace pipes . It was the only incense of the day. "
literature
- Life, letters and travels of Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, SJ Missionary laboratories and adventures among the wild tribes of the North American Indians. Volume 1. Francis P. Harper, New York 1801-1873. Description of a Cheyenne peace pipe ceremony on page 211 .
- Powell A. Moore: The Calumet Region. Indiana's Last Frontier. Indiana Historical Bureau, 1959.
Web links
- Literature on peace pipe in the catalog of the German National Library
- The Calumet - Pipe of Peace on YouTube
- The Sundance Ceremony on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The Religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions. Vol. 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 . P. 171.
- ↑ a b c Jan-Ole Beyer: Cultural history of tobacco. (PDF) Technische Universität Berlin, accessed on February 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Oliver Klüser: The importance of religion for North American Indian cultures in the Google book search
- ↑ Cäcilia Rentmeister: Rituals as "social drama" - On the meaning of rituals in human life. (PDF) p. 70 f , accessed on February 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Roger Scruton: I drink, therefore I am - A philosophical seduction to wine in the Google book search
- ↑ The United States of North America. (TXT) Archive.org - Stream, p. No. 120 f , accessed on February 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Assisi: Religious leaders pray for peace. In: The time. October 31, 1986. Retrieved February 24, 2016 .