hEyOkA mAgAzInE
Home Contributors Art Fotos Wordsmiths Celluloid Music Fashion
Environment Panorama Features Psych Art Views Translation About us Contact

 

BUD  AND RONA JOHNSTON

Bio continued. Many years before that Bud worked as a counselor at the Indian Center in Fremont California.  There was an old Lakota Spiritual person who worked with the children, teaching them songs on the drum.  A year after this man's death, there was a big pow wow to honor him and to send his spirit to the spirit world. as is Lakota tradition.  At this huge gathering of Native people not one pipe could be found, so his spirit was sent with a cigarette. Bud said," It was hard to believe that an important part of our culture was missing from such a large group of people, and if he ever got back to the Pipestone he would make pipes available to who ever needed them.

 
 
 

Turtle pipes by Bud Johnston

 

John LeKay: How and when did you become a pipe-carver and maker?

Bud Johnston: I am an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and have been learning the ways of my tribal people most of my life. I have been carving pipestone and making pipes for over 30 years.  I started Quarrying pipestone in about 1984 and started making pipes shortly after that. Here is why.

Many years before that I worked as a counselor at the Indian Center in Fremont California. There was an old Lakota  person who worked with the children, teaching them songs on the drum.  A year after this man's death, there was a big pow-wow to honor him and to send his spirit to the spirit world. as is Lakota tradition.   At this huge gathering of Native people not one pipe could be found, so his spirit was sent with a cigarette.

Bud said," It was hard to believe that an important part of our culture was missing from such a large group of people, and if he ever got back to the Pipestone he would make pipes available to who ever needed it.

JL: Was this ceremony for this mans death in South Dakota and was he a medicine man of some sort?  I mean, where was the canunpa wakan. Isn't that supposed to be used in Lakota ceremony?


BJ: He was just a good man who cared about the kids. This was not a LAKOTA ceremony it was a bunch of Tribal folks from many nations who knew very little of their cultures. In many of our tribal cultures the spirit of a person sticks around a year and then is ready to leave for the other side.  this pow-wow was about the right time of year to do the year ceremony. Our club was named the voice of the people in Dakota but the president was Apache and I was VP (Annishinabe), Yes, you usually use a pipe for this sending of the spirit but no one had one.
 

 

Pipe by Rona Johnston

 

JL:  Can you tell me about your process of making a pipe, step by step, the type of tools you use, and the type of material you use for the bowel and the stem?

BJ: A hacksaw to cut them out, a horseshoe rasp to shape finer files and sand paper to smooth and bees wax to finish the bowls are usually made of red pipestone from Pipestone MN and black from a place called lake of the Eagles near Kenora Canada. In the past they were made of any stone that was workable with stone tools.

JL: Do you use any electrical power tools during the process and why are they made with red pipestone?  Is there some kind of significance to this red pipe stone?

BJ: There are a few stories about the red stone being the blood of our ancestors. Mainly it is easy to work  and takes the heat very well. The black pipes predate the red by at least 1,000 years. Yes, sometimes we use a Dremel for small detail and a big power saw for slabs

 

Pipe by Rona Johnston

 

JL: Where do you get this stone from?

BJ: The red comes from Pipestone National Monument here in town

JL: Does any one have a right to use this quarry in Minnesota?

BJ: Only enrolled tribal members from federally recognized tribes may apply for a permit to quarry.

JL: Why is that? 

BJ: The enabling legislation for the National park says so. It is the only nation park in the country that anyone is allowed to to take anything out of.

 

Pipe by Rona Johnston


JL: What is the history of this mining site?

BJ: Our people have used these quarries in Pipestone for over 2,000 yrs. The black quarry for over 3,000

JL:. What are your thoughts on the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Chief Arvol Looking Horses proclamations on the pipe?

BJ: It sucks, who does he think he is? The pipes and ceremonies have been used for thousands of years by many tribes. The Lakota have their version as do many others

JL: Why do you say it "sucks". Is this because it's affecting your own personal pipe carving business, sales etc, or for other reasons?

BJ: No one has the right to tell someone else how they can pray or not pray. The Lakota only have existed as a nation for a few hundred years, they were Dakota before

JL: Is the Lakota version (WBCP) the origin of the pipe for all the other tribes. Or does each tribe have their own origin?

BJ: That is a Dakota/Lakota version (WBCP) the origin of the pipe for all the other tribes vary from tribe to tribe. Many tribes have no story and others like mine have a story only about the tobacco coming to the people. don't forget, this red stone was one of the most prized trade items in north America. The major trade routes came thru Pipestone hwy 75 the king of trails north south  and hwy 30/34 the Sioux trail east west.

 

 

Beaded bag by Rona Johnston

 

JL:. Do you know anything about the Canunpa Wakan of the Lakota and it's history?

BJ: Quite a lot.

JL: What do you know about the canupa wakan controversy? The quest and mystery surrounding it.- Who has the real authentic Canunpa wakan?

BJ: I know it has been a problem for years, I don't know where the original WBCP is. Ever since Paula Horn got involved with Arvol, it has gotten more controversial. Arvol's nieces went with me to world piece and prayer day years ago and I helped Arvol write a letter to president Clinton about the trouble he was having with Pennington county near Hill City. On the way home his nieces asked who made him chief? He was just a keeper of the pipe.

JL: Do you know about this man called Wilbur Riegert, who wrote a book called Quest For The Sacred Pipe ?

BJ: Yes. This story was told to me by an elder a number of years ago. He used to come to Pipestone to get stone from George and Dick Bryan. This was copied from a letter he sent me in Oct 2006.

It was early summer in the early 1970’s I made my semi-annual pilgrimage to Pipestone. As I sat and talked with George, he showed me
a piece of Alabaster and asked, what can be done with it, and I said carve a white Bison. He cut the stone in half and said we should both
carve one.

 As we sat and carved he said he received a letter and a template from this fellow ( Wilbur Reigert ) from Wounded Knee and
wanted him to make a copy of the Sacred calf pipe that was broken when AIM burned the Wounded Knee Museum. Wilbur make a tracing from the broken pieces. George then made a tin template and should still be with George’s other templates if Billy or Dick still have his things.

 After George died I visited his wife Winona and she still had the templates. I was back in Pipestone a couple months later to get some stone from dick. As Dick and I were Talking George arrived and had the finished copy of the Sacred Calf pipe. Dick had been working on the stem and it was finished. We sat and talked for a while and neither George or Dick wanted to see if the stem would fit. They asked me to see if I would  set the stem in the bowl, and it did and it fit perfectly. I only remember that the stem was about 24” long and had carving on it. I  thought it had turtles and skull carving ( Elk or Bison) The stem was made of Ash and was flat and slightly oval.

JL: Is the pipe they made a tracing off that was burned by AIM, the pipe with the Standing buffalo on it, one of 14 by Standing eagle. or another pipe?

BJ: No, it was a T bowl pipe with a lump on the front and a lump on the back that were supposed to represent a cow and a calf George Bryan was standing eagle.

 



JL: Do you make other kinds of art work?

BJ : No, my wife does.

JL: What kind of artwork does your wife make?

BJ: She does paintings, beadwork, pipes, pipestone jewelry, buckskin clothing

 

 Rona Johnston

Bio continued. Rona Johnston has a degree in Early Childhood Education, and has spent her life incorporating her knowledge of American Indian culture into her teaching. Rona believes that it is important to give children more than reading and writing and arithmetic. If children feel good about who they are and have a passion for learning, they have the tools they need to succeed. Rona started volunteering for the Keepers in 1998 and became Secretary - Treasurer soon after.

 Rona creates works of art in a variety of mediums from leather and beads to carving and jewelry. One of he favorite pipes is the eagle claw. This pipe features the eagle protecting the egg -

 

To see more pipes and art work visit

www.pipekeepers.org

 

Back to Top