ART by HEIDRUN

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The Gift: Offered as a gift is the pipe.  According to Sioux legend the pipe and its corresponding 7 sacred rites (7 red lines are on the pipe stem ) was brought to the people by White Buffalo Calf Woman.   The sacred (white) buffalo is carved on the pipe bowl which also embodies the female element and is usually made of reddish Catlinite, a fairly soft stone.  The Stem signifies the male, is associated with the color blue and often made from Sumac, a plant depicted in the upper right hand part of the green rim.

Only when pipe bowl and stem are united does one arrive at a functioning whole.   Smoking the pipe sends a visible prayer to he heavens and connects the mortal with the immortal via the plants arising out of the same earth which gave rise to man.  Some of the plants used for smoking or smudging - using dried plants as incense to attract good energy - are depicted in the rim surrounding the gift: in clockwise fashion from top center are lance-shaped Sumac leaves, a raspberry plant, Lavendar, Tobacco, Kinnikinnik (Bearberry), Mullein, Sweet Grass, Oregon Grape, Sage, Cedar, Juniper, the top of the Mullein plant and again Sweet Grass.  Lastly, the pipe is adorned with dyed horse hair and a feather of the “winged ones”: preferably an eagle.  Hidden in plain sight are 7 animals that could be found amongst the plants: a bee, a Rocky Mountain Horned Lizzard, a butterfly (Skimmer), a worm, a turtle, a spider, and an ant.  The surrounding final green border signifies the unifying influence of mother earth which gave rise to all depicted.