Native Americans smoked different things in their peace pipes depending on the tribe and region. Eastern tribes smoked tobacco, while tribes out West smoked kinnikinnick, which is tobacco mixed with herbs, barks, and plant matter. The Sacred Pipe, also known as the Peace Pipe or Calumet, was 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. The narcotic effect of tobacco and the symbolism of the indrawn and ascending smoke affirmed that communication took place between humans and sacred beings. The pipe itself was a symbolic microcosm, and its parts, colors, and motifs used in its decoration each corresponded to essential parts of the indigenous universe.