There is more to the Pipe Bowl than just a game

It was a squeaker but the Gavels came through and achieved victory in the Pipe Bowl by a score of 48-44.

In addition to the great game it was an outstanding educational trip for our students.

A short history of the Pipe Bowl …

In the Blue Hills of Western Wisconsin lies a legendary quarry where the ancient Ojibway extracted the soft red stone from which they formed the peace pipe. A finely grained stone running from a rich red to purple in color, pipestone is soft and easily carved once fresh from the earth. Once exposed to the air for a period of time, it turns rock hard. According to legend, pipestone is said to be stained red by the blood of the Creator himself.

The Blue Hills pipestone quarry is on the National Register of Historic places. No one knows when this quarry, a humble pit in the side of a hill and about as deep as a person is tall, was first tapped for it’s stone, but pipestone from the Blue Hills has been in use since 3000 BC.  Located about 50 ft. from the quarry is a small circular area where the trees don’t grow; only some brush and a few saplings are beginning to emerge. Known as the “peace circle”, supposedly many generations of moccasined feet of the ancient indians padded the ground during a ceremony that would be performed here. After many centuries, the vegetation is now just beginning to grow on this trampled piece of land again.

See you next semester!

Peace.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 4:17 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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