CALUMET, an instrument in use among the Indians of North America, and univorsally regarded by them as the emblem of peace. It corresponds, in a great degree, to the flag of truce as employed among the nations Of Europe.
In the New World, the mode of expressing by ar bitrary signs, a disposition of amity towards strangers or rival tribes, Pi subject to considerable variations. Among the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, the usual indication of friendship, is the green branch borne aloft in the hand. On the western coast of North America, the Indians approached the English, under Captain Cook, presenting as they advanced, a staff or baton curiously wrought, and surmounted with a knot of feathers. But among all the savage nations, occupying the territory beyond the northern limits of the Spanish possessions, the symbol of peace is the tobacco pipe ; and it is to this instrument exclusively, that the French have given the name of Calumet, and to which that name is at present very generally applied.
The calumet, or pipe of peace, is usually about four feet in length. The bowl of it is made of red marble, hollowed out with considerable art, and the stack is composed of a reed, or of some light wood, which is easily perforated. The Indians adorn this instrument in various ways. Sometimes it is marked with the figures of animals and hieroglyphical delineations ; and almost universally, it has beautiful feathers attached to it, dis posed in fanciful arrangements, according to the taste of the individual, or of the nation to which he belongs. And each tribe is said to decorate the calumet after a manner peculiar to itself. The instrument in question is frequently used by the savages when warriors of dif ferent nations accidentally meet ; sometimes, even in the rage and tumult of a battle, it is offered and accepted, and hostilities instantly cease ; and it serves with many accompanying solemnities, as an introduction to ambas sadors, and as a medium of reconciliation and alliance among contiguous tribes. But in these last circum stances, namely, when ambassadors have arrived, and a treaty is about to be formed, the use of the calumet is deserving of particular notice. The strangers having appeared, and the chiefs of the nation which receives the embassy being placed, according to the degree of emi nence which they have attained, an officer, belonging also to the nation which receives the embassy, and who in Europe would be styled an aid-de-camp, prepares the calumet, in order to present it to both parties, with the requisite observances. After filling the pipe with to bacco and fragrant herbs known to the Indians, the officer alluded to snatches a piece of burning wood, either front a neighbouring cabin, or from a fire which has been lighted on purpose, and places it upon the bowl of the instrument. The smoke gradually ascends, and when the odoriferous composition included in the pipe is sufficiently kindled, the piece of burning wood is removed. Here the first part of the ceremony appears to terminate. The officer, or aid-de-camp, next points the stem of the calumet towards the heavens, and by this action he is understood to supplicate the favour of the great spirit; he then turns it downwards towards the earth, and now he is supposed to avert the malignity of the in il genii, or charm them into quiescence ; and finally, stretching forth the instrument in a horizontal direction, he moves himself round till he completes a circle ; and by this last observance, he is conceived to invoke the spirits which inhabit the air, the woods, and the waters, and whose concern and delight it is, as the Indians believe, to provide for the happiness of mortal...
The invocation of the benignant genii scents to conclude the second part of the ceremony. For immediately, yet. not without sonic degree of politeness, according to the fashion of the savages, the officer presents the calumet to the chief of his own tribe, putting the extremity of the reed into his mouth. The chief, having received the smoke, blows a portion of it vigorously towards the heavens, and the rest all around him upon the earth. Tho pipe is next introduced successively into 1.1.4. mouths of the ambassadors, who blow forth in the sanie manner ; but neither they nor the chief ever touch the instrument, except with their lips. The honour of pre senting the calumet is always reserved for some person of distinction. And the trhole ceremony is performed in a grave and dignified way, corresponding, in this par ticular, to the usual manners of the Indians, which are solemn and lofty, and bearing a resemblance, in most of its aspects, to a religious institution. The treaty is now concluded ; the hatchet painted red, the awful emblem of war, is buried deep in the earth ; a belt of wampum, by which the articles of agreement arc recorded, is de livered ; and the union, thus singularly, and, as we should say, fantastically formed and established, often continues throughout many generations.
From the calumet, and the use to which it is applied, the most elegant of the Indian dances has its origin and name. It is called the calumet dance ; but when it is stated that this is the most elegant of the Indian dances, nothing more is meant, than that in the exercise or amusement alluded to, the contortions and gestures of the performers are less frightful than in any of the other dances. Like all the other dances, however, that of the calumet may be regarded as descriptive or emblema tical ; and its peaceful character might even be inferred from the known uses of the instrument. It appears to represent, by a series of movements, the power and utility of the calumet. These ideas arc very obviously expressed in what may be called the chief action of the piece. In this principal part, the performers are com monly two; the one armed with a club or hatchet, and the other bearing in his hand the mediatory pipe, with which he defends himself against the attacks of his op ponent, and with which he ultimately succeeds in reduc ing him to obedience. Both the performers dance all the while ; and the rest of the Indians, usually seated around them, join It ith them in uttering and repeating that disagreeable sound which constitutes the music of the savages. The sound referred to, Mr Carver at tempts to convey to European ears, by the words " heh, heh, hell," and it is pressed forth from the chest, ap parently with much effort. The calumet dance, how ever, is now in use only upon rare occasions, as when ambassadors are received by the Indians, or when strangers of distinction pass through their country. See Carver's Travels, pp. 253, 194, 201 ; and Long's Travels, p. 35. (h)