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Culture

The ceremonial smoking of tobacco or other herbs, as a form of prayer, is still practiced in a number of Native American religious traditions. In southwestern Minnesota, the Pipestone National Monument commemorates Native American pipe-smoking culture. Native Americans have a strong connection with pipe smoking and the gods. It is believed that they view the pipe and its function as a type of “cosmic affiliation.” Traditional native pipes, also known to many tribes as “cloud blowers,” blew the smoke upward to the Great Spirit. These sacred pipe rituals were centered on the pipe while passing it around the group in a circular fashion, where the bowl of the pipe became a cosmos. Pipes were often used in formal and important occasions like medical and agreement practices. Medical pipes were thought of as sacred and ancient, and so had restrictions of use. For example the Pawnee people believe that the medicine pipe should be treated with a special stick, for the gods might think that the smoker them self was the sacrifice rather than the tobacco they smoked. Pipe smoking was also used to seal agreements and settle disputes. Pipe smoking played an important role in war and peace for natives. For instance, deliberations were conducted under the influence of tobacco and no treaty would be made without the “passing of the pipe.” The lip to lip transfer symbolized friendship; in this practice, the pipe is often referred to a “peace pipe.”

Dutch Pipe Smoking

During the 17th Century, pipe smoking became a new trend among the Dutch young, in specific the upper and middle class students. These students copied the Spanish sailors and soldiers in the area by joining them in participation of pipe smoking. In particular they were interested in the novelty it brought, which was the inhale of smoke. However, the only way to smoke tobacco was through a pipe. Popularity grew throughout and became a mainstream habit for the Dutch during this time. “In a relatively short period of time, from 1590 to 1650, the Dutch Republic had gone from being a country of non-smokers to being a tobaccophile of Europe.” Typically, these young folk did their smoking in smoking rooms or parlors, also known as “tobacco houses.” They smoked for social habit, usually with other smokers. “It took more than a century for this new practice to come into fashion.” The popularity of pipes grew interest in artists. Although pipes has once been associated with the lower class, it turned into a symbol of prestige and vanity. Images of pipes could be found in numerous painting during the time. For example, in Willem Buytewech’s painting The Merry Company (circa 1620-1622), there are three young men and a woman sitting around a table with a tobacco pipe lying in the middle. Additionally, in artist Adriaen Brouwer’s portrait The Smokers (1636), he too was interested in the pipe. The smokers in the painting are sucking on their pipes.