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Pipe bag

Date1981

Maker Lakota North Dakota

Label TextBags to hold tobacco, herbs and a pipe are decorated and carried with reverence for their contents. Ceremonial smoking helps to heal individuals and situations, and is an action derived from the original Sioux creation story. The pipe within such a bag is considered sacred and not appropriate for constant public viewing. Sections of the bag are given over to two very different forms of patterning-quillwork and beadwork. Porcupine quills are flattened and dyed with colors derived from plants and mineral deposits, then wrapped and sewn onto skin by women. Glass beads were introduced to the Sioux by European fur traders and often augmented or replaced the quills. Sioux men considered pipebags as essential as a horse or weapon when departing for battle. Geometric patterns may have identified the military society of the carrier.

Object number81.17.1322

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Bead Quiz, July 1, 2008 - July 1, 2009 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Double Exposure: Edward S. Curtis, Marianne Nicolson, Tracy Rector, Will Wilson, June 4 – Sept. 9, 2018

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions31 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (80 x 19.1 x 6.7 cm)

MediumLeather, glass beads, quills, and brass bells