Pipe bag facts for kids
A pipe bag is a special pouch used by some Native American people during important ceremonies. It's also called a tobacco bag. These bags are often used to carry a sacred pipe, like a Chanunpa, which is very important in many Native American traditions.
What Pipe Bags Look Like
Pipe bags come in many different styles and sizes. Their look can change depending on the Native American Nation, where they are made, or the specific group using them. However, many pipe bags share similar features.
Most pipe bags have a long neck made of cloth or leather. The top edge, or rim, is often decorated with tiny beads or quills. Below the neck is a main part, or pouch, which is also often decorated. At the very bottom, you'll usually find a fringe. Some bags are kept plain without any decorations.
Many newer bags have a special "slat panel" made of quills between the main pouch and the fringe. Older bags often don't have this panel. Quillwork, which uses porcupine quills, was very popular before the late 1700s and early 1800s. After that, beadwork became more common because beads from Europeans were easier to get.
Meanings and Examples
The Sioux Quilled Pipe Bag you see on the left has beautiful quillwork. It shows plants, animals, buffalo, and even caterpillars. The "cocoon" design on this bag is very special. It stands for spiritual and physical change, like a butterfly changing from a caterpillar. It also represents the Sioux spirit Yumni, who is like a whirlwind. Yumni is believed to control the four directions of the world.
Both the moth, which breaks free from its cocoon, and the wild wind are seen as spirits that cannot be held back.
A researcher named Clark Wissler wrote about a "whirlwind bug" in his notes from 1907. This bug was said to have spiral grooves and create small dust clouds on the ground. People believed these dust clouds could confuse enemies and make them lose their way. The cocoon design on the bag, especially above what looks like a bear's head, might show this whirlwind idea.
The Lakota word for pipe bag is čhaŋtóžuha.
