Pipe

The pipe plays a central role in almost all Lakota religious ceremonies and celebrations. There is a very prescribed protocol in the Lakota tradition for handling and using the pipe. It must be kept in a specific way, loaded in a specific way, smoked in a specific way, and passed on in a specific way. The prescribed treatment of the pipe is a means, by which the sacred and holy nature of the pipe is established. By treating the pipe in this manner, it is transformed into something that is associated with the sacred and spiritual nature of the ceremonies in which it is utilized.

The pipe is usually used for smoking a blend of sacred herbs including tobacco, sage, sweetgrass, and cedar. While smoking the pipe, a person is supposed to be focusing his/her prayers and blessings. The tobacco is supposed to retain the prayers and blessings of the person using the pipe. The smoke that is created when the pipe is smoked is inhaled into the smoker, and there it becomes concentrated with all of the intentions and prayers of the person. It is then released into the environment. The smoke is thought to carry the prayers and blessings of the smoker to the spirits. Therefore, the pipe is seen as a physical manifestation of the connectedness of humans with the environment, but also with the spirits and the creator.

The people who are generally permitted to be pipe-carriers are tribal elders, or people who are well established in religious life. A single pipe may be passed down through generations to those people who are deemed worthy by pipe-carriers, establishing the continuation of many religious and social ceremonies and activities. As such, the pipe is also thought to symbolize the tribal unity and identity.