socman

This has nothing to do with pow wows, but my internet search has failed me and you guys have helped me out before...so...What is a "wind pipe"? In the context of..."he wore a beaded vest and a red wind pipe".

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"As through this world I've wandered, I've met lots of funny men. Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." -Woody Guthrie

soopashinaab

I'm thinking the word "windpipe" was a typo and should read "hairpipe" a tubular type of bead used in chokers and breastplates, among other things. The good ones are made of bone, but plastic (hence the color red) as well as buffalo horn is also used.Does this help you in any way??

soopashinaab

I'm thinking the word "windpipe" is a typo for the word "hairpipe" which is a tubular type of bead usually made of bone, but can also be plastic (hence the red). They are usually used in breastplates, or chokers. Does this help in any way??

Singing Eagle

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socman

That could very well be. I haven't seen the term anywhere else. (the book is "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" which I am reading for the second time). Mattiessen actually uses the term several times describing the outfits worn during those times. I was picturing something around the neck, like a bandana, but it's never really clear what he means, which I thought was strange considering how many ndn consultants he had helping with the book. You'd think at least one of them would have said..."Dude, wind pipe? That's not right."

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"As through this world I've wandered, I've met lots of funny men. Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." -Woody Guthrie

soopashinaab

Maybe... just maybe they were laughing at him as he wrote his book. J/K That would be funny though, "Let's see how many times this guy is going to mispronounce the word hairpipe."

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soopashinaab

I thought of something else it might be, an eagle bone whistle colored red. I was just thinking more about your last post.

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socman

Sorry, sorry, sorry!!! I feel really stupid now. After going back to see if I was correct, indeed I was NOT. It isn't "wind pipe", it's "wind band"! (my whiteness is showing...how embarrasing).

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"As through this world I've wandered, I've met lots of funny men. Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." -Woody Guthrie

socman

It appears that I have stumped the "band".....pun intended.

__________________
"As through this world I've wandered, I've met lots of funny men. Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." -Woody Guthrie

Tom Iron Eagle

Actually, WindPipe is also correct.

You see, what we call HairPipe was also called WindPipe in the very early years of trade. Contrary to popular belief, we did not create what one sees as today's HairPipe.

We did make elongated beads/pipes long before the Europeans came to our shores. These beads/pipes were made from bone, shell, wood, stone, and clay. The bead/pipes were used for various things: If only as a bead they were often worn in the hair. If as a pipe they were used for mostly medicinal purposes of blowing the smoke in a concentrated stream on the afflicted person or afflicted area. They could be used as both.

When the Europeans arrived they gave these elongated beads/pipes two names in English: WindPipe and HairPipe.

Over time the Europeans noticed that the Natives greatly valued the stems of corncob pipes which were made of bone. The Natives like the consistency in shape and size of these stems for use as beads, etc. You see before this time making these beads was a very long and complicated process for the Natives and getting even consistency from bead to bead for a large amount of beads was hard and very time consuming.

It did not take much time for the Europeans to develop and perfect a way of mass producing these pipes in bone for the Fur Trade.

As time went on the term "WindPipe" lost favor for the description of these beads.

socman

I re-posted this in the Pow Wow Crafts section using the correct term of "wind band", and OlChemist gave a definitive answer that the author was referring to a headband. I thought that might be the case, but just wasn't sure. Mystery solved! People here rock!

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"As through this world I've wandered, I've met lots of funny men. Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen." -Woody Guthrie