Thanks, but we prefer to smoke our own: Pipes in the Great Lakesriverine region during the eighteenth century by Trubowitz, Neal L.

Trubowitz, Neal L. (Deparanent of Anthropology, Indiana University, Indianapolis)

THANKS, BUT WE PREFER TO SMOKE OUR OWN: PIPES IN THE GREAT LAKESRIVERINE REGION DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Figure: Left, right, front and back views of an eighteenth century stone Micmac pipe recovered from Fort Ouiatenon (12 T 6) in 1968. Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology catalog number 1797/653. Illustration by Beryl Rosenthal

In the eighteenth century, Europeans established many posts and settlements among the Native peoples living along the upper Great Lakes, the upper Mississippi, and the lower Ohio River. Native Americans and Europeans adopted much from the opposite cultures. However, in smoking technology, the native peoples and Europeans preferred pipes from their own cultures. There was some exchange of pipes, but individually-made stone pipes predominated on Native American sites, while molded white clay pipes were preferred at European sites. These preferences related to Native Amencan social (religious and ceremonial) uses of tobacco as compared to European recreational use. Look-alike European pipes may also have been rejected by Native Arnerican smokers if stone pipes expressed personal identities. Data from around the region were reviewed, with a focus on the Ouiatenon locus in central Indiana where recent research on several villages and an associated trading fort showed a complex pattern of acculturation.

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