Pam Tellinghuisen

Pam Tellinghuisen

NPS

Quick Facts

Significance:

Pam Tellinghuisen is a 4th generation quarrier and carver at the monument. She also works as a demonstrator, educating visitors from all over the world about the quarrying/carving tradition, and works with the Pipestone Indian Shrine Association.

Pam Tellinghuisen
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
of the Lake Traverse Reservation

A fourth-generation quarrier and pipestone carver, Pam Tellinghuisen was born in the city of Pipestone in August 1966. A descendant of Moses Crow and Estelle Crow-Wilson, Pam primarily learned how to work the pipestone from her mother, Betty Derby-Tellinghuisen. As a child, Pam and her brother Todd would dig dirt and toss rocks around their mother’s quarry. Often, Pam’s relatives would gather at her grandmother’s house; the adults working the stone, carving turtles and other objects, as the cousins ran around and played. Occasionally, the children were persuaded to carve the stone as well, and this was how Pam first developed her skill. She began with simplistic arrowhead and heart designs taught to her by her mother.

In her twenties, Pam was added to her mother’s quarry permit, and she continued to improve her skill as a pipestone artist. Her brother taught her to make pipes, and eventually she developed her own turtles, following the styles of her mother and aunts. Her relationship with the quarry also developed, and she finds that the quarry often has a calming effect on her that allows her to escape the everyday worries of life. “There is a sense of peacefulness out there,” says Pam, and she wishes she could find time to quarry more often. She appreciates the exercise that quarrying involves, as well as the sense of relief and accomplishment she feels after a hard day’s work. Pam became the sole quarrier in her family’s pit when her mom retired 14 years ago, and she continues to work the same quarry today.

Pam currently serves as the Sales and Shipping Manager for the shop run by the Pipestone Indian Shrine Association (PISA) at Pipestone National Monument. PISA is very important to her family, as they played a major role in the development of the organization. Pam enjoys working for PISA, and has done so for 14 years. She still demonstrates her pipestone carving skills regularly, and likes to challenge herself by attempting to carve at least one new, unique item per year. Pam has carried on her family’s traditions in more ways than one, and she believes her ancestors would be proud of her and her living relatives. She hopes that younger generations will become interested in quarrying, and will continue the sacred practice.