"BIG BOY" PIPE
SPIRO MOUNDS SITE
LE FLORE COUNTY, OKLAHOMA
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION
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   This picture shows the back of the "Big Boy"

pipe. Two holes can be seen. The upper one

was used to hold the tobacco and the lower

one was used to withdraw the smoke. Tobacco

"cake" was observed in the concavity. This

pipe was also painted. Some of the red color

can still be seen within the indentations on the

designs. There is also a topknot of hair at the

back of the head. The most sticking design

on the back is the feather mantle or cape
which is carved with many images of feathers.
   Charles C. Willoughby wrote an article called

"Textile Fabrics from the Spiro Mound." He

comments that "Feathered covered mantles

were not uncommon throughout the region

of the United States in early Colonial times.

He writes that Lawson writes that "A doctor

of the Santee Sioux was "warmly and neatly

clad with a match cloke, made of turkies'

feathers which makes a pretty show, seeming

as if it was a garment of the deepest silk shag
(Lawson, 1860, p. 37)."
PHOTO BY BILL FECHT

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