Carved Pipe

Panel pipes were most likely carved as status symbols rather than for smoking. There is no evidence that this pipe was ever used, even though its channels would make smoking possible. The meaning of the carved interlocking and twisting clan animals, including different birds and frogs, is unknown now that the oral history of the pipe has been lost. Perhaps the piece was a potlatch gift. If so, the act of accepting the gift would have constituted an acknowledgment of the original owner’s proprietary rights to the spiritual histories connected to the carved figures.