Note 19 — THE ILLINOIS OR ILLINI[17] (1550?-1833 A.D.)

The term calumet, originally applied to the stem of the tobacco pipe, is now generally used to designate the pipe and stem. “It is fashioned from a red stone, polished like marble, and bored in such a manner that one end serves as a receptacle for the tobacco, while the other fits into the stem; this is a stick two feet long, as thick as an ordinary cane, and bored through the middle. It is ornamented with the heads and necks of various birds, whose plumage is very beautiful. To these they also add large feathers—red, green, and other colors—wherewith the whole is adorned. They have a great regard for it....” (R. G. Thwaites, ed., The Jesuit Relations, Vol. LIX, p. 131.) The war calumet differed from that of peace and was decorated with red feathers. See Fig. 34, A.