Tobacco pipe bowl

Creators and Contributors William Smith (Contributor)
Deborah McMullen (Contributor)
Pamela Smith (Contributor)
John F.C. Johnson (Contributor)
Brandon Moonin (Contributor)
Dawn Randazzo (Contributor)

Cultural Narrative William Smith:  Bill suggests that they might have smoked opium with the pipe.  Due to the size of the pipe, it looks like an opium pipe.  The Wolfhead looks similar to the cape we looked at yesterday. It might be that these things have been acquired from the same person.

Deborah McMullen: Port Graham the last shaman died in the late 80s and early 90s. He didn’t show it outwardly. He gave me my Sugt’stun name. (Trying to be something). He couldn’t hear because he rescued kids from a fire and lost his hearing in the process. He was the only one that called me by my Sugt'stun name.

William Smith: Russians had big plugs of tobacco that they would smoke or chew.

Dawn Randazzo: Maybe it is from a shaman because of the wolf head. The pipe has the same design as the wolf as the shaman's cape. I wonder if they were collected at the same site.

Brandon Moonin: Qustekah (Sugt'stun for Bigfoot) If you were to far from grandma she would say that Qustekah would come down from his tree and he would grab the kids and pull them up to eat them.

John Johnson: Qustekah lake, There is so much coal in the lake that sometimes big air bubbles come up out of the water. Original name is the place where a big dragonfly came out of the water.

Brandon Moonin: Sug’stun word for Shaman (Kaalaa’lek).

Pamela Smith: I wanted an Eyak name. Elders said give me 3 days 3 nights and I will give you a name. I have a name for you Duchag, it didn’t sound right. For years it didn’t sound right. No one knew the meaning of the name, but they said that’s enough you got a name you don’t question elders. She talked to Elders of the Yakutat Tlingit. It's not an Eyak name. It means a woman that carries an important message from afar (Tlingit) but given by a Eyak woman.