pi'he (smoke)
Pi'he is the Numak'aki term for “smoke”; in this project, the word stands in for all aspects of the act of smoking. In Native communities, smoking and pipes served a variety of important purposes. Some pipes were everyday smoking pipes, meant to be shared in social settings. In the Awatíkihu (Five Villages), for instance, a miti ko-mne-ka (“one who is the village door”) was expected to keep a pipe and tobacco at the ready for guests, who could impose on the hospitality of a miti ko-mne-ka at any time. Karl Bodmer and Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied echoed this use multiple times in the Fort Clark studio.
Other pipes had special ceremonial purposes. Smoking the calumet, for instance, bound the involved parties together; the act symbolized the parties’ promise to uphold their obligations to one another. Some pipes were specially carved for particular ceremonies, and their transfer from one set of hands to another could set a designated social process in motion, such as the transfer of rights from a ka-ka (keeper) to an initiate or the first stage of a community celebration. Pi'he could also possess hó'pini (“to be holy”). In all cases, the act of smoking was governed by strict social and ceremonial protocols, as seen in Mató-Tópe’s recorded behaviors on March 15, 1834.[1] Pipe bowls in the Awatíkihu were made of black sandstone, with special ceremonial pipes carved of a single piece of wood.[2]
Related themes:
- calumet
- hó'pini (to be holy)
- kin
- miti ko-mne-ka (“one who is the village door”)
- ónone (color)
- pi'he (smoke)