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<\/a><\/p>\nI got to the visitor center and tried to learn what I could about what pipestone was and why it was important.<\/p>\n
It turns out that pipestone is another name for catlinite<\/a>. It’s a metamorphosed mudstone that is found in formations of Sioux Quartzite. It’s fine-grained and easily worked and used in making ceremonial pipes for all of the Plains Indians. It was so important that to all the Plains Indians that this was neutral territory where all Nations could quarry stone for ceremonial pipes.<\/p>\n The Sioux tribes may have taken control of the quarries around 1700, but the Minnesota pipestone has been found inside North American burial mounds dating from long before that. I hope they are no longer excavating burial mounds. When you know better, you do better.<\/p>\n The name for the sacred pipe is “chanunpa”. If you are interested in more information, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I imagine that there were any number of different styles. After all, there were numerous Nations and they produced them for many, many years.<\/p>\n They had some artisans in the visitor center working the soft stone. The ones I saw seemed to be producing articles for the tourist trade.<\/p>\n In spite of the fact that the stone was smooth and attractive, I decided against buying a souvenir. That’s just the way I roll.<\/p>\n There are still active quarries at the monument. In 1937, an act of Congress restored quarrying rights to the Indians. Today, only people of Native American ancestry are allowed to quarry the pipestone.<\/p>\n There was a trail that lead out from the visitor center that went by some of the quarries. I was eager to see what the quarries looked like.<\/p>\n Right outside the visitor center was an exhibition quarry. I was curious about why it was flooded. Was it permanently flooded or was\u00a0this was a temporary condition? As I write this report, more than a year later, I called the center and spoke with a ranger\u00a0in the interpretive center. He told me that they do pump it out, but it does tend to fill with water in the spring. Since I was visiting in the spring, I guess that explains it. \u00a0In any event, there was nothing happening in that quarry when I visited.<\/p>\n I continued along the path toward the cliff.<\/p>\n There were some interesting interpretive signs along the way identifying the plants. I always wonder what the plants are the I am looking at.<\/p>\n I kept walking and the cliff kept getting larger.<\/p>\n And finally, I was there.<\/p>\n The plant identification signs continued.<\/p>\n I walked up the path and came across this sign.<\/p>\n Of course I had to look.<\/p>\n This is what I saw. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what I was looking at, so I reached out to the ranger again. This was his reply: “The Oracle is a natural stone face within the Sioux Quartzite cliff.\u00a0 The face is looking to the left, with a lichen covered nose and a protruding chin.\u00a0Some American Indians believe that The Oracle is a guardian of the quarries, and will impart wisdom to the quarriers in how to get down to the catlinite.\u00a0 Offerings are sometimes left at The Oracle for this reason.”<\/p>\n Do you see it? I do!<\/p>\n I continued along the trail. The trail went up and so did I.<\/p>\n In 1838, Joseph Nicollet<\/a> led the first U.S. Government expedition to the pipestone quarries. He mapped the upper Mississippi River basin and his maps were the most accurate of the time.<\/p>\n In case you can’t read this plaque memorializing the J.N, Nicollet Expedition of 1838, they rested here for three days. It lists the members of the party. I am always interested in when things were memorialized and who erected the memorial. This plaque was erected in 1925 by the Catlinite Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.<\/p>\n According to a sign nearby, this is what the members of the expedition carved.<\/p>\n I am pretty sure that this is the stone they carved. When I enlarged it and fiddled with the settings in iPhoto, I could kind of make out the letters. The earth and its processes eventually reclaim everything. Just to be sure, I reached out to the ranger\u00a0again. He said that this was the original stone.<\/p>\n Apparently, people who came along after them left their marks as well.<\/p>\n Given the hardness of the quartzite, it was no mean feat to leave your name behind.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n