Čhaŋnúŋpa (in Standard Lakota Orthography) is the Sioux language name for the sacred, ceremonial pipe and the ceremony in which it is used. It is often spelled imprecisely as Chanunpa, Chanupa, or C'anupa. Sacred Pipe, or Calumet, is one of the central ceremonial objects of the Northeast Indians and Plains Indians of North America. It was an object of profound veneration that was smoked on ceremonial occasions. Many Native Americans continue to venerate the Sacred Pipe. Sacred Pipes are often referred to as Peace Pipes, but that is never the term used by the Native Peoples.
Further notes regarding Native American Spirituality:
Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Traditional Native American ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual tribes, clans, and bands. Early European explorers describe individual Native American tribes, and even small bands, as each having their own religious practices.
Theology may be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, shamanistic, pantheistic or any combination thereof. Traditional beliefs are usually passed down in the forms of oral histories, stories, allegories, and principles, and rely on face to face teaching in one's family and community.