Miami of Ohio vs. WMU Peace Pipe, 1967, Rec'd Fall 2015, Transfer Completed In Archives: February 9, 2018.
Scope and Contents
The peace pipe was carved in 1967 to symbolize the good will between Western Michigan University and Miami University of Ohio. Both institutions were football rivals at the time. The peace pipe was conceived of by Rick Markoff, then president of the WMU senior class. This was one of many initiatives created by members of the senior class after concerns were raised that it was largely uninvolved in campus events put on for the benefit of the student body. Terry Moore, former senior class vice president, was serving as an instructor in the Industrial Education Department and agreed to carve the pipe. Markoff hoped the pipe would garner as much notoriety as the Little Brown Jug or the Old Oaken Bucket.
The winning university of the annual football game between WMU and Miami received the peace pipe to display at its school for the following year or until losing a game in the future. The trading of the pipe, after the team holding the pipe had lost, became known as the “Peace Pipe Ceremony.”
Three representatives of each university met mid-field after the game and exchanged the pipe. The representatives then shook hands and the pipe was displayed at the winning university. It is not known how representatives were selected. One year, Miami University recruited from the Student Foundation of Miami. In 1987, WMU selected representatives who had been heavily involved various homecoming activities. The ceremony itself was independent of homecoming festivities; it occasionally coincided with Homecoming.
The peace pipe, however, was not immune to criticism. In 1989, contributing columnist H.R. Schmidt wrote in the Western Herald that the peace pipe was representative of an imagined Wild West, a culture and history that never existed to begin with. Controversy may have stretched beyond WMU. Athletic teams of Miami of Ohio were for many decades known as the Redskins. The name changed into 1996 to Redhawks and may have influenced a decision to retire the peace pipe.
The final ceremony of the peace pipe was held in 2001 after WMU defeated Miami and reclaimed it.
Dates
- Creation: 1967
- Record Keeping: Rec'd Fall 2015
- Record Keeping: Transfer Completed In Archives: February 9, 2018.
Extent
1 boxes (1 Flat Box)
Language of Materials
English
Custodial History
This object is a carved representation of a peace pipe. It served to demonstrate good will between Western Michigan University and Miami University of Ohio during the football rivalry between both schools. It was donated by officials of WMU's Development and Alumni Relations.
Physical Description
The peace pipe was carved from wood and can be disassembled into four pieces. It is approximately six feet in length when assembled. It arrived at the Archives in three pieces and was accompanied by a plaque that briefly describes the peace pipe and its history and purpose. The predominant colors are brown and yellow (to represent gold) and red and white, the school colors for WMU and Miami of Ohio respectively. Color accents for the school colors of other Mid-American Conference colleges and universities are present across the object. The paint is covered with a coat of varnish. Some paint is worn off along its ends and edges. The plaque was disassembled and its placard placed in a folder that is housed in the box constructed for the peace pipe. The peace pipe is wrapped into tissue paper.
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu