This ceremonial pipe, carved of oak, represents a killer whale. It is an understated, but elegant carving with a minimal and intellectually well-conceived formline design on the pectoral fin. The cylindrical metal pipe bowl creates the illusion of a dorsal fin. Stylized ribs, vertebrae and viscera are rendered along the length of the body.

Elaborately carved wooden pipes came into fashion among the Tlingit about 1810. Most of the images on Tlingit pipes represent family crests, although a few examples depict geographical features. Ceremonial pipes were used at Smoking Feasts which honored and memorialized the deceased, and took place immediately after cremation. Commercial tobacco was smoked in these pipes, replacing the native variety that, in the pre-contact period, was pulverized with lime and ash in a stone mortar and sucked in pellet form.

A Tlingit chief owned many ceremonial pipes; one or two of which were significant clan heirlooms featuring the most important crests of the lineage. Others in the chief's collection were offered to high ranking guests attending a memorial ritual; lower ranking individuals were expected to bring their own pipes to the event. The associated documentation suggests this pipe belonged to the famed Shakes family. The killerwhale is a crest claimed by the Shakes family, (Emmons, 1991; de Laguna, 1972; Holm, 1987; Macnair, 1984).

Jay Stewart
Peter Macnair
April 26, 2001