Handed Down - Nevada Arts Council

1992–1993
Chippewa Stone Pipes:
Adam Fortunate Eagle and Adam Tsosie Nordwall
Unlike some contemporary art forms, traditional
folk arts are not meant to be hung on walls or
placed on pedestals. They are deeply imbedded in
a culture and are used in both everyday and sacred
contexts. Adam Fortunate Eagle’s carved stone pipes are
a good example; while Adam would be the first to say
they are pieces of art, and some are bought by collectors
for display, their primary purpose is ceremonial. Adam
is a Chippewa from Minnesota who now lives on the
Stillwater Reservation outside of Fallon, and he is
passing on his skills and knowledge to his 12-year-old
grandson Adam Tsosie Nordwall.
The pipes are made from pipestone quarried in Minnesota.
Blanks are roughed out with a hacksaw, then
shaped with files, sandpaper and steel wool to a smooth
finish. Adam spent a lot of time teaching Tsosie to
use saws, files, drills and drawknives safely, explaining,
“Most parents say, ‘Oh, don’t touch that, that’s sharp,’
you know. Well, heck if they’re going to learn it they’ve
got to work with dangerous things. They can’t work
with dull tools, dull tools are more dangerous than a
sharp tool.”
Tsosie has been spending time in his grandfather’s
shop since he was very young, listening to his stories and
playing with scraps, so he had little trouble making his
first pipe. “You have to have patience,” he admits, but in
the company of another grandson, Jesse Windriver, and
under Adam’s cheerful instruction, he is well on his way
to becoming a carver. Tsosie and Jesse each finished a
pipe, complete with a carved sumac stem and beadwork
decorations, and then used them in their manhood
ceremonies in May. They went through a sweat lodge
ceremony, received instruction in spiritual matters from
their grandfather, and spent the night alone on a desert
mountain without food or water. Adam explains,
“They’re going to learn how to use those pipes, how to
fill the pipes, how to use them in ceremonial ways because
both of them are going to do those things, as they
grow older. So it’s more than just the simple routine of
making an object, this is creating part of their culture,
part of their heritage, carrying on your traditions, so it’s
much more meaningful than the physical thing that you
see there, that’s what makes this so special. It’s more
than just teaching the kids the craft, it’s teaching them
a culture.”
Jesse Windriver getting a lesson in pipe carving from his
grandfather Adam Fortunate Eagle.
Tsosie Nordwall working on a pipe.
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