Connection to the Earth Mother

Connection to the Earth Mother. . , It's very spiritual. Your own personal connection to the earth mother, to the quartzite, to the pipestone rock…The benefit of it all is you get a sense of oneness with everything here." , Travis Erickson, quarrier , You are looking at piles of Sioux Quartzite rubble removed from quarries by American Indians seeking sacred pipestone. Three thousand years ago American Indians used stone tools to remove pipestone found near the surface. , Today quarriers use sledgehammers, steel wedges, and wheelbarrows to remove the hard quartzite rock found in quarries up to 15 feet deep. The hard physical labor of the past is much the same as the labor today - although the tools have improved, all the work is done by hand.