Pipestone National Monument reveals Native American commerce, tradition in southwest Minnesota

PIPESTONE, MINN. — As semi-trucks roared past and an occasional freight train lumbered by on tracks parallel to the highway we marveled at how people do the same thing today that Native Americans did millennia ago. We'd just left Pipestone National Monument near the town of Pipestone, Minn., and learned of extensive trade and transportation of valuable commodities long before Columbus set sail.

A couple of hours earlier, Travis Erickson told us that Native Americans had a robust trade network that spanned the continent.

'Three products were in high demand but were only found in a few places. Tobacco, flint and pipestone were so valuable and scarce that they were carried all over as important trade goods,' he said.

Unlike today, natives lacked semi-trucks and trains and, until introduced by the Spanish, even lacked horses to pull heavy loads. Trade goods were physically carried vast distances.

Despite his Norwegian sounding name, Erickson is a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe and is one of only a few pipestone carvers left. His hands never stopped moving as he talked and gradually formed a beautifully crafted ceremonial pipe.

Sioux quartzite, one of the earth's hardest and oldest rocks, is found in the relatively small area where South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa meet. An excellent building material, many classic structures in Sioux Falls and nearby towns were crafted of it and remain gorgeous and solid after a century of use.

Millions of years ago mud oozed into cracks in the quartzite. Heat and pressure transformed it into a rock called Catlinite, or Pipestone. It is technically metamorphosed mudstone containing iron that gives it a slightly reddish hue. Pipestone is about as hard as a human fingernail, making carving possible.

Pipestone is only found in a few places, with that quarried in Minnesota the highest quality.

It was named Catlinite in honor of the famed painter George Catlin who visited the area in 1836 but most people simply call it pipestone.

More than 2,500 years ago Native Americans learned that the relatively soft stone could be pried from the quartzite using wedges and stone tools. With only primitive tools they carved it into strong and functional pipes and ornaments and cut it into blocks that were carried far and wide for trade. Carvers today use modern steel files and electric drills to speed pipe creation.

Tobacco is native to North America. It was collected wild and cultivated by Native Americans long before Columbus.

'Often people would smoke a blend of dried tobacco, sumac leaves, dogwood bark and bear berry. It was called kinnikinick,' Erickson said.

Native American smoking was ceremonial. When whites met indigenous tribes for peace treaty signings, native people would often bring their pipes and smoke to seal the deal. It is how the word peace pipe was coined, but to Native Americans the pipe had a much greater cultural significance. It was the primary communication between the spirit power and humans. They believed that when a prayer is given while smoking a pipe, those prayers are carried to the Great Spirit on the smoke. Pipes continue to be used in religious ceremonies. Early European explorers brought tobacco back to the Old World where it was smoked for recreation and social reasons.

Pipestone National Monument is operated by the National Park Service. Only Native Americans are allowed to harvest stone but anyone can visit to see quarry pits, meet stone cavers in the visitor center and walk a delightful trail past quarries, a native prairie, a ridge of quartzite and Pipestone Creek's impressive Winnewissa Waterfall. The area is a sacred site for many Native Americans and the monument is a place for prayer. Visitors often spot small pieces of tobacco, sage or cloth attached to trees. They represent prayers to native people.

The monument is a perfect distance from the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor for either a long weekend visit or an overnight stop on the way to the Black Hills or other western sites. It is just under 400 miles from Cedar Rapids and about a six-hour drive. Pipestone is about 20 miles north of Interstate 90. We visited Pipestone in early October during pleasant autumn weather and camped at Split Rock Creek State Park about six miles south of the Monument. Three other state parks are within 20 miles and also offer pleasant camping. Blue Mounds State Park and Lake Shetek State Park are in Minnesota, while Palisades State park is just across the border in South Dakota. A private RV campsite with hookups is immediately adjacent to the monument.

Pipestone is a small town of just over 4,000 people that's well stocked with motels and restaurants. We lunched in the historic Calumet Inn and Restaurant and toured its rooms.

Built over a century ago of Sioux Quartzite, the inn is as attractive as it is comfortable. During our next visit we'll stay there.

As we returned home and semi-trucks sped past us we thought of how some things have changed while others remain the same. Today's engines allow thousands of items to move quickly from place to place. Native American entrepreneurs had to carry flint, tobacco and pipestone, but both societies were engaged in robust commerce.

IF YOU GO

What: Pipestone National Monument

Where: 36 Reservation Ave., Pipestone, Minn.

Contact: (507) 825-5464, www.nps.gov/pipe

More information: Pipestone Chamber of Commerce, (507) 825-3316, www.pipestoneminnesota.com