Pipestone National Monument

Pipestone National Monument is a national monument located in southwestern Minnesota, just north of the city of Pipestone. Lying along U.S. Route 75, Minnesota State Highway 23 and Minnesota State Highway 30, it is home to catlinite rock quarries culturally significant to 23 Native Americans tribal nations of North America.

Those known to have actually occupied the site chronologically are the Yankton Dakota, Iowa, and Omaha peoples. The quarries were considered a neutral territory in the historic past where all tribal nations could quarry “pipestone” for ceremonial pipes vitally important to Plains Indian traditional practices.

Archeologists believe the site has been in use for over 3000 years, with Minnesota pipestone having been found in ancient North American burial mounds across a large geographic area.