The Pipe's Bowl
The bowl of the Sacred Pipe is traditionally carved from the sacred red
stone known by the White Man as Catlinite, but as Pipestone by the Red Man.
Pipestone is sacred, and found mainly in Minnesota. This area is
very venerable to Native Americans. The sacredness of the stone lies in
it's red color, the most sacred color of all because it is the color
of life, blood, the rising sun, Mother Earth, and the skin of the Red Man. The bowl is carved with great percision and prayers. During its shaping, the bowl becomes the representation of Mother Earth and all female life, for the bowl represents the womb in which life begins and is nurtured till birth. While many pipe bowls are carved in different shapes, some are left unadorned. The more intricately carved pipe bowls are
usually representative of a person's individual medicine pipe or prayer pipe, rather than a tribal or community pipe.
back to the N.A.Spiritual Page
back to My Home Page