Argus Dowdy Pipestone Artist

Keepers founding member

 Argus, Choctaw from Oklahoma, began carving 15 years ago as an extension of his learning the spiritual ways of his people.  During his research he found that the pipe played an important role in many ceremonies.  Argus began carving when he ran across a piece of Pipestone at a Tulsa pow wow.

His search for knowledge eventual directed him to travel across the United states to Pipestone, MN.  There he met Todd Tellinghousen a Dakota, bought some stone and learned much about the process of quarrying and carving.

Argus carved the crested T bowl that you see in our logo as a special gift.  The crested style pipe is over 1000 years old and comes in several different designs.  Argus says his pipe designs are inspired by carvers of the past and he does extensive research before he carves a pipe.  Argus is meticulous in his work and so he put an enormous amount of time into perfecting the skills he needed to complete a pipe to his satisfaction.  

Therefore Argus is also a world class quill worker a skill he uses to decorate each of his pipes.  Argus even dyes his own quills and likes using red, yellow, black and white, which represent the four colors of man and the four directions.  The stem is ash, a durable wood ideal for making the twisted stems which has historical significance because of its use by many plain tribes.