Looking back at now nearly 36 years of being a pipemaker, there was bound to be some controversy surrounding what I do and how I have done it. Never the less, I enjoyed every moment carving and must admit, the whole thing was a learning process. learning stone, tools and people. I must say I learned a lot about myself too, my shortcomings, flaws and the few things I consider positive aspects of my life.

One thing that will haunt me, I must address here. The fact that many hundreds of pipe I made have been deemed ancient, antique, old, pre-1900s reservation pieces or worse. Fact is, I was born in 1956, leaving great  doubt that pipes I made were carried by great warriors in the Indian wars.   Many modern books regarding pipes usually picture a few of mine and attribute them to having been found or collected in places and dates that long predate my birth.  Lar Hothem was a fine man and a good author. But, I take exception to his book, "Collector's guide to Indian Pipes". In that book alone, I counted 69 pipes that I KNOW that I personally made and are represented as old and from various places and times. there are another 40 some I suspect I made but would have to hold them in my hands to be sure.

A friend of mine was at Washington Courthouse in Ohio at a relic show many  years back. A gentleman had several signed pipes I had recently made on his table. These pipes had two distinct feathers carved on the bottom, a way I still occasionally sign them.      This seller of fine pipes was describing Two Feathers, maker of the pipes he had recently purchased and was offering for sale. "Two Feathers was a Lakota pipemaker and all these pipes I have here were carved in the 1880s -1890s by him. My friend listened and heard yet another tale from another seller, sure, I was an old Sioux stonesmith!! At this time, I was one of the only high production pipemakers in the country and the internet was in it's infancy. My pipes were in high demand with anything "Indian" being popular due to the release of the movie "Dances with Wolves".  From there, fakers, traders and crooked shop owners took over, the false legend grew  and today is accepted as fact. Many of my pipes are in high caliber collections, genuine Native made but not old and certainly  not Sioux made, I am a Cherokee.

There are other books which falsely represent my pipes as well. Also, many fakers and traders removed my signature from pipes and aged them to meet criteria of  the lie. Old pipes are worth much more than modern ones, ask anyone who collects them. I ask you, the new collector or admirer of catlinite and steatite pipes to remember this guide. Be aware of my style and know I intentionally leave a very few tool marks which may be hard for the faker to remove. I never drill in the old style with a reamed and tapering hole. This makes it too easy to turn a piece of art into a fake. I don't want anyone to be cheated so just be aware, learn and know your stuff where it comes to collecting pipes. My work is not so expensive when you look at what other carvers are charging. I just want to make a living and make something that will long outlast me.

Thank you for your time,  Tali