calumet

American  

[kal-yuh-met, kal-yuh-met] / ˈkæl jəˌmɛt, ˌkæl jəˈmɛt /

noun

1. a long-stemmed, ornamented tobacco pipe used by North American Indians on ceremonial occasions, especially in token of peace.

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calumet British  

/ ˈkæljʊˌmɛt /

noun

1. a less common name for peace pipe

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Etymology

Origin of calumet

First recorded in 1710–20; from French, originally dialect (Norman, Picard): “pipe stem,” a by-form of French chalumeau “reed flute, stem of a reed,” with suffix altered to -et; see origin at chalumeau, -et

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calumet

One of the prairie schooners is a genuine survivor of the Colorado gold rush, the calumet used at the powwow is supposed to have been sucked by Sitting Bull himself.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I do not smoke," added Big Chief Nikita, "but really, I would be happy to light the calumet together with the leaders of all powers."

From Time Magazine Archive

And then he swept his arm and the feather-fluttering calumet abroad as he described the boundless extent of the hunting grounds over which it had used to roam.

From The Westerners by Stewart Edward White

Whatever impression this made, none present gave any sign, and the emptying of the ashes of the sacred calumet by White Wolf's pipe-bearer brought the council to an end.

From A Volunteer with Pike The True Narrative of One Dr. John Robinson and of His Love for the Fair Señorita Vallois by Robert Ames Bennet

Without solving the question they smoked the calumet, offering up the fumes as incense while they fervently prayed that the tyrannies of life should never again force them to draw swords against each other.

From In the Van; or, The Builders by John Price-Brown