Pipe in Four Pieces, Part of War Outfit

Tobacco, indigenous to the Americas, has been smoked, chewed, and pulverized for inhaling by Native people for thousands of years. The act of smoking is believed to connect the physical and spiritual worlds as the smoke spirals its way from earth to sky carrying prayers and blessings. The ancient panther effigy pipe displayed nearby may depict the Underwater Panther, a mystical beast with great power that was thought to live in the underworld realm.

Historically, pipes such as the one seen here were used for personal, communal, ceremonial, and political purposes. This example is said to have belonged to the Lakota leader Red Cloud, and may have been used during alliance-building ceremonies. Today, pipes are considered sacred when they are activated by joining the stem and bowl.

In the seventeenth century, British colonists understood the export value of tobacco, establishing vast plantations that resulted in the expulsion of Native people from their ancestral homelands and the introduction of slave labor from Africa.