MY FLUTES

I currently specialize in creating 2 types of Native American Flutes; the Two-chambered block flute (aka, "NAF", Love Flute, Courting Flute) and Rim-blown flutes I call, "Pueblo Flutes" (aka, the "Anasazi" Flute).

I currently make flutes as a hobby, but I make them so that they are unique and playable musical instruments with their own distinct sound. I use some modern tools like belt sanders, routers, and rotary tools to make my flutes; I use simple hand tools as well-- knives, gouge chisels and hand planers. Each flute is sanded by hand and sealed with various types of finishes, e.g. shellac (Bull's Eye) , teak oil, or spar urethane.

My flutes are for sale here, and on eBay in accordance to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, because I am an enrolled tribal member of a Federally recognized tribe-- Jemez Pueblo. You will find descriptions and histories of the flutes that I make and play here on aluaki.com. I give lectures and demonstrations about my flutes, and what I know about their history.

MY FIRST FLUTE

I fell in love with the sound, the construction, and ease of play when I bought my first flute at the 2007 Memorial Day Powwow at the Red Rocks north of my home. (This flute was a Two-Chambered Block Flute.) After that moment, I had to learn more about this wonderful instrument. I began researching Native Flutes on the internet, and my eyes opened up to whole new world of Native America I had never known before.

Most of my research has been on the internet, but I had to buy a few flutes to actually see what is out there in the Native Flute world. Through my research I have been able to learn more about my own Cultural heritage.

I found an image of a Jemez Pueblo flute from 1907, in a book called, Objects of Myth and Memory: American Indian Art at the Brooklyn Museum, and is the only Jemez Flute I have seen. So from researching flutes I was able to find a flute tradition in my own community that I never knew existed; for this reason, I continue learning about flutes from Jemez and from other countries around the world.

THE TERM

Native American Flute refers to a specific type of flute or a flute made by a Native American, and because of the Indian Arts and Craft Act of 1990, this maker must be an Enrolled Tribal Member of a Federally Recognized Tribe.

The term "Native American Flute" has been used by many makers to refer to a "Two-chambered Block Flute", and has become most popular. They are also known as, "Love Flutes", "Courting Flutes", and other terms. "Native American Flute" implies that all Native American tribes made or make the same type of flute, and that is not the case. There are hundreds of different tribes that made or make flutes, and each with their own names for the flute. Any Native American that makes flutes can call their flutes Native American Flutes. (I will refer to the more common type referred to as Native American or Native American Style flutes as "Two-Chambered Block Flutes", or simply "Block Flutes".) Although many tribes made flutes, Archaeologist have unearthed some of the oldest flutes from the American Southwest.

Pueblo Peoples of the Southwest have been using flutes ceremonially for hundreds of years, or perhaps thousands, to conjure up rain spirits, clouds, and anything related to good crop growth. Most of these flutes were rim-blown, and some were bone whistles with a few holes. These flutes have been recently called "Anasazi" flutes, but I call them Pueblo Flutes. Not much is known by the public about how Pueblo Rim-blown flutes were/are played by Pueblo Peoples due to the secretive nature of our lifestyle and beliefs; however, they are still used in modern Pueblos.

Rim-blown flutes are characterized sound production; they require a specific embouchure (the position and use of the lips, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument). The player uses their trained lips to blow across the blowing edge to created a sound. These flutes are held almost parallel to the player and up to a 45 degree angle from the player.

ORIGINS

Some of the earliest known flutes were found in 1931 by Earl Morris. He led an expedition from the Carnegie Institute of Washington DC to the Prayer Rock District in Northeastern Arizona; there he found rim-blown flutes that dated to the 600s, in a cave known as Broken Flute Cave. Other archaeologists unearthed rim-blown flutes made of cottonwood from the ruins of Pueblo Bonito (Room 33) in Chaco Canyon in the early 1900s; in addition, exploreres in the east have found flutes of a more recent, yet still ancient, history.

The oldest known Block Flutes, the Beltrami flutes, date to 1823 Minnesota. Other flutes date to the 1830s. Many flutes of this type have been found accross the Plains,the Eastern United States, and the Southwest.

More history can be found at Flutopedia or Native Flutes Walking

HISTORIC PUEBLO FLUTES

My first example is a Zuni Pueblo Dance Flute (Image source: Objects of Myth and Memory: American Indian Art at the Brooklyn Museum). The decorations of this flute are quite simple yet beautiful: a decorated gourd attachment on one end with eagle plumes tied on the rim, and evergreen branches bound in the center where the dancer would have held this flute while dancing.

The second is a five-holed Hopi Flute from the Boston Museum of Fine Art.

The third is a four-holed flute from San Felipe Pueblo "collected" by a man named Spinden, in the early 1900s.

The forth is a four-hole flute from Cochiti Pueblo with fragments of a gourd attachment (American Museum of Natural History).

The fifth flute is a four-holed flute "collected " by Stuart Culin in 1907 whilst visiting Jemez Pueblo (Image source: Objects of Myth and Memory: American Indian Art at the Brooklyn Museum). It appears to be made out of a type of reed. It would have also had a gourd attachment on the bottom like the Zuni and Cochiti flutes. The gourd attachment represents a rain cloud with the eagle plumes representing rain. These Jemez and Zuni Flutes are now stored in the Brooklyn Museum of Fine Art. There are also some historic Pueblo Flutes that are put up for auction, like this Kewa Pueblo Flute. It was on auction at COWAN'S, a consignment auctioneer.