the Flat-Pipe
Arapaho · numen · Arapaho traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The Flat-Pipe is the paramount sacred medicine of the Arapaho, at once a ceremonial object and a primordial being present at the making of the world. In the cosmogony it rests with the Creator upon the endless primeval water before there is any land, and the raising of the earth is accomplished around it. As the tribal palladium it is kept by a hereditary Pipe Keeper and its rites are the most restricted in Arapaho religion, its wellbeing identified with the wellbeing of the people. Traditions differ over whether the Pipe is itself the active creative power or the sacred possession of Man-Above through which he works.
Domains
- sacred pipe
- creation
- tribal covenant
Powers
- abide upon the primeval waters
- embody the covenant of the people
Relations
- ally: Man-AboveBound to the Creator upon the primeval waters.Dorsey & Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho (1903). (primary)
- companion: TurtleTurtle's dive furnishes the earth the Pipe presides over.Dorsey & Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho (1903). (primary)
Sources
- The Flat-Pipe (Seicha) is the Arapaho tribal sacred medicine, present at creation and the object of the tribe's oldest ceremony.: Dorsey & Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho (1903). (primary); Anderson, The Four Hills of Life (2001). (secondary)