Crow Pipe Ceremony

A small group of Crow men have come together to seek the guidance of the Great Spirit. Their every movement is prescribed by traditions which have been handed down by their elders. The semi-circle in which they sit opens toward the east from where the sun rises. The pipe has been furnished by the initiator of the ceremony. He begins with a prayer asking for guidance on a subject shared by all the men assembled. The pipe is then passed along the left and then the right. Each man accepts the pipe with dignity, points it methodically toward each of the four points of the compass, toward Mother Earth and then to the Great Spirit in the sky above.