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Winnewissa Falls at Pipestone National Monument
October, 2020
Dear Friends,
Can stone quarries be holy? If you visit Pipestone National Monument in southwestern Minnesota, you'll learn that the answer is yes.
For thousands of years the native peoples of North America have visited this holy site to quarry a beautiful red stone used to make ceremonial pipes. Oral tribal histories say that for many centuries this land was considered neutral ground where people could work without fear. The stone was traded widely throughout the continent (in fact, it was found at one of the sites on the Ancient Ohio Trail that I wrote about in my August newsletter).
I've visited Pipestone several times through the years, drawn to its beauty and peacefulness. On my most recent visit this past summer I was fortunate to have a tour with Gabrielle Drapeau, a park ranger who is a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Her family has deep roots in the Pipestone area and she appreciates the chance to share her heritage with visitors.
"We believe that the red in the pipestone is the blood of our people," said Gabrielle. "Our elders tell the story that many years ago there was a terrible flood, and the blood from those who died seeped down into the rock. When we come here, we connect with our ancestors."
 As we walked the trail that winds through the 301-acre site, Gabrielle showed me some of the nearly sixty areas where pipestone is quarried (see photo). Permits are given only to members of federally recognized tribes and all the work is done by hand. It can take many weeks of hard work to reach the thin layer of pipestone that's located underneath layers of Sioux quartzite, which is harder than granite. While there are other pipestone deposits around the country, the stone here is particularly prized for its beauty and quality.
 The red stone is shaped into a variety of forms, but ceremonial pipes are its most important use. Pipestone is typically used for the bowl of the pipe (see photo), while the stem is made from wood.
The monument is affiliated with 23 tribal nations, who each have their own traditions relating to ceremonial pipes, the quarries, and pipestone itself. Lakota ceremonies, for example, often include prayers to the four directions, to the earth, and to the sky, with bits of kinnick-kinnick (an herbal mixture of local plants) added to the bowl with each prayer. When the pipe is smoked, all of creation comes together in the prayers that waft upwards to the Great Spirit.
"When you pray with this pipe, you pray for and with everything," said Oglala Lakota holy man Black Elk, whose story is recorded in the spiritual classic Black Elk Speaks.
Pipestone National Monument was established in 1937 to preserve the Indian quarries, but it protects another treasure as well: a tallgrass prairie ecosystem that has changed little since prehistoric times. Only a fraction remains of these grasslands that once covered vast stretches of North America. Pipestone's prairie has more than five hundred species of plants.
The monument also has dramatic formations of Sioux quartzite, which like pipestone is a beautiful red color. Pipestone Creek flows through the property and forms lovely Winnewissa Falls, which waters an oasis of green vegetation in the middle of the drier prairie.
In touring the site this summer, I was especially struck by the incredibly hard work of quarrying pipestone. Maybe one of the lessons we can learn from this place is that the sacred is often hidden deep in our lives, and it takes patience and fortitude to find it.
I loved, too, that all parts of pipe-making are considered sacred, even the quarrying. Too often we think of spirituality as only an interior journey, but sometimes we pray best through our bodies---and sweat and hard work can be part of the process.
In these times that are so full of division, I greatly appreciated being reminded of the power of peace and the power of prayer at Pipestone.
Blessings on all your journeys--
Lori
P.S. While the visitor center at Pipestone National Monument is currently closed because of Covid, its trails are open. On October 11, the monument will host a celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day between 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. The walking trail will be lit with luminaries and visitors can listen to traditional and contemporary Native American music and stories at various locations along the route.
photos by Bob Sessions
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 Recommended Reading:
Learn more about traditions relating to ceremonial pipes in The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux, which is edited by Joseph Epes Brown.
While Black Elk Speaks is a beloved classic, for a more comprehensive and accurate version of his teachings, read The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt (edited by Raymond J. DeMallie). It includes the transcripts from Neihardt's interviews with Black Elk in 1931 and 1944.
In Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder, Kent Nerburn learns profound lessons about Native American tragedies and resilience through his friendship with a Lakota elder.
Book Updates:
 Near the Exit: Travels with the Not-So-Grim Reaper is about places that have helped me come to terms with mortality. Foreword Reviews gave it a silver award for best religion book of 2019, calling it "an ideal guidebook for facing the inevitable,"
My previous book Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God is a memoir told through trips to a dozen holy sites around the world. According to author River Jordan: “Reading Holy Rover is like hitting the lotto of a road-trip with Anne Lamott, Barbara Brown Taylor, and Elizabeth Gilbert—one filled with intoxicating conversations, exciting discoveries, and plenty of spiritual rule-breaking.”
 For a full list of reviews, awards, and media coverage for both these titles, see my Lori Erickson website.
And if you've read and enjoyed either of my books, I hope you'll write a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Your review will help other readers discover my work.
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