Beaver Pipes and Serpent Mounds… What Will They Think Of Next?

Oftentimes, we tend to overlook the variety of Early American art that we can find in North America. Starting with the Beaver Effigy Platform Pipe that was found in present day Illinois of all places. This pipe was created during the Woodland period of Early American Art sometime between 300 BCE and 1000 CE by the Hopewell Indian tribe. Hopewell Indians made a lot of different kinds of pipes where they carved them with different representations of animals that they found to be significant such as birds, owls, deer, and in this case, beavers. 

In terms of the Beaver Effigy Platform Pipe, the design of it shows a juxtaposition between realism and simplistic art forms. For example, the physical shape of the beaver is realistic in that it looks like that particular animal. On the other hand, there is very little detail on the pipe. It lacks specific detail in the fur as well as the other features of the beaver. The focus of the pipe is in the physical form of the animal and the inlaid pearls for eyes and the bones used for teeth. The hole on the beaver’s back is where the Hopewell Indians would put the tobacco or other dried leaves and herbs to smoke. The way the pipe is arranged with the animal is that when you would smoke the pipe you would end up face to face with the beaver. This is representative of communicating with the spiritual world through the pearl eyes of the beaver.

The Great Serpent Mound, on the other hand represents a different animal, a snake. It was created during the Mississippian Period of Early American art which is typically characterized by a widespread distribution of complex chiefdoms and in this case, mound building. Through carbon-14 dating, researchers have concluded that the Great Serpent Mound likely dates back to 1070 CE. Its shape is characterized by the curvature of the mounds, representing the twisting form of a snake. There is a lot of controversy surrounding why this was created, but there are a lot of theories that people have come up with. The most common theory is that a serpent is opening its mouth to swallow an egg. Other ideas include that it was constructed following Halley’s Comet, or that it shows an ellipse. There are quite a few theories that revolve around its connection to the heavens or cosmos because the curvature of the serpent resembles the Little Dipper constellation coiled around the North Star. The Great Serpent Mound’s purpose was for mortuary functions such that it would connect the living world to the dead.

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art: A Brief History. Fourth Edition. (Prentice-Hall, 2009)

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