I must admit that sometimes reference questions in the Children’s department can be quite laborious and challenging. For the most part, the questions have a clear-cut answer, one that can always be found in print-based materials. Someone asked me a question on Saturday that left me (and a really experienced co-worker) stumped! A man came to the department, and first described a dream or “apparition” he had had the night before. He had seen a Native-American with a long braid. He explained him in great detail; the man was tall, dark, with two feathers poking from his braid towards the sky, and three feathers pointing down towards the base of his braid. The man handed him a white, bone peace pipe and held up his left hand.
The patron’s question was: what is the symbolism of the feathers, and the number of feathers; how does one acquire feathers; what does the white peace pipe mean; can you find me a picture of a Native-American man with two feathers pointing up and three pointing down. EEK! After gathering all of the materials we had in the entire library on Native-Americans, we found that the information would describe the headdresses as having feathers in them, but not how the number of feathers was important. After exhausting all of the print resources available, we were left with no other option than to try online. It was here that we found the pictures he requested, but again, no information to help this man on his quest. We could assume that the “white” peace pipe meant purity, innocence, etc., but confirmation not listed in any of the materials. I recommended that the man attempt to contact a First Nations person for clarification—they would know best through oral-tradition, and I suggested that he return to us with whatever information he gathers, as it would allow for us to have a sense of closure as well.
