Hello, my relatives, we greet all of you with a good heart and a gentle handshake. We as the Lakota People carry a great responsibility that was given to us generations upon generations  ago by the Creator, the Mystery, a gift and a great responsibility our people still struggle to keep alive through our children. This is the Pipe, Chan unpa. The way of the Chan unpa is basic and simple: it is the way of family. The bowl representing the woman. The stem representing the man. Together they create family.

Like our ancestors have done for thousands of years, we still travel this country, creating this family throughout the world, giving love and happiness in what ways we can find possible on the physical level. For it was one of the sacred rites of the Pipe called the Hunka ceremony, which is the Making of Relatives ceremony. In our culture and our way of life every man in a village is a father, grandfather, uncle, and brother; every woman is a mother, grandmother, auntie , and sister.

The family structure is deteriorating not only in this country but throughout the world. This is what helps us to strive even harder to keep those traditions alive in our heart by walking and giving whatever we can to some child or family, whether it is through ceremonies or material means. Anybody who has a family and believes in the Creator knows the responsibility of walking with this Pipe. Some of you may not carry a physical pipe. Even though some of us may not carry a pipe, we can still carry those teachings in our hearts.

Nathan Chasing Horse
Wambli Gi
Wichasha Wakan

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