Dig It - 8/21/23

Hello Out There, To All My Fellow Seekers! Gosh Darn It, Today we are going to take a trip to the Frontier, not the frontier of John Ford and John Wayne, but an earlier, different frontier of majestic forests, flower blanketed prairies and unspoiled rivers and lakes. Let’s crank up the Way-Way Back machine to the late 18th, early 19th century, let’s pick the year 1799. That was right about the time this pipe was made.

First the French and then the English had been in the Great Lakes region for about 100 years. They had fought the French and Indian War and later the American Revolution in the region. The Native Americans of the area were still relatively undisturbed, but encroachment was starting with American Pioneers from the south and Iroquois pushing from the east.

This pipestem is from the Great Lakes Region (probably the Western Great Lakes). It has a beautiful mineral blue/green pigment and very fine quillwork, done in natural white, as well as dyed with red and blue pigments. The stem is 30” long and the bowl about 5” long. Pipes like this one were often used and given in exchanges with EuroAmericans and other Tribes to solemnize an occasion, such as a treaty. This pipe came out of England and is currently being offered for sale.