Native American Pipe Usage in Ceremony The majority of the people in this world would probably picture a smoking pipe as the old wood Sherlock pipes and or the glass tobacco pipes. I had always thought that way as well, but then I heard in my college class (American Indian Philosophy) about sacred pipes; of what some know them better as “peace pipes” which are used in Native American pipe ceremony. The sacred pipe “is not restricted to being used only be Native Americans, but it is a spiritual thing and what it symbolizes must be respected by everyone attending the ceremony” (Native American Peace Pipe). While briefly touching base of the pipe in class, I wanted to receive more information about the sacred pipes in the Native American culture.…show more content… The first thing I discovered was, all the different types of pipes and how there are also several different objects that can be used to create sacred pipes. The pipe ceremony is used as a scared ritual and most Native American pipe ceremonies have the same intentions. But what I find most interesting is, what the people attending the pipe ceremony partake in, say and see throughout the sacred ritual. Being there are different pipes and hundreds of Native American cultures that use the pipe, show why there is such a variety. To begin, there are personal pipes, family pipes, and pipes for large ceremonies. Most often the pipe is made of some sort of stone, while symbols are put onto the pipe for multiple spiritual reasons. The particular stone that is used for these pipes all depends on where the Native tribe is located. For example, “The Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes often used river clay that was formed into a bowl shape then ‘cooked’ by putting it over a hot fire for the bowl of a peace pipe. Bluestone is hard quartzite that is greenish blue. Found in the…show more content… It’s important to know that “Most pipe ceremonies have the same intention: to call upon and thank the six energies:” (The Native American Pipe Ceremony). The six energies are the four directions, the earth and sky and ultimately the Great Spirit, which ill come back to later in my writing. Native American cultures continue to do this because it has always worked for them. And if you were to look at track record it would show the same thing. Like what Ed McGaa (Eagle Man) said about track record, “The old time Indians were honest, ethical people, and they had an unblemished environmental record. When the Pilgrims first landed, they kept them alive, and they took in black slaves. They were extremely humanistic. That's one of the main reasons that I believe in the natural way” (The Native American Pipe Ceremony). Another connection between sacred pipe ceremonies is that it is absolutely unimaginable to break his/her word after smoking the pipe in the pipe ceremony. In previous pipe ceremonies a treaty would come with the sacred pipe ceremony as a more secure way for not going back on your word. Going back on their word would mean their word wouldn’t get up to the creator, because the pipe was the vehicle that carried their word to the creator. The last similar information about pipe ceremonies is, when you have