Native American Flute

We may never really know when and where the Native American Flute tradition first began in North America. Whatever its origin, the native flute became an important part of the musical heritage of North America.

Most of the ancient predecessors of the native flute were elaborate derivatives of the whistle. Usually lumped together with the simple whistles, perhaps a separate category should be created and called something like "whistle flutes." This would include the multiple holed "whistles" made of bone and stone found in a variety of ancient sites throughout the country.

Both tribal oral legends and the chronicles of travelers and explorers make mention of the existence of flutes. The legends are explored elsewhere in this program, so we'll look at the chronicles. A native flute is first mentioned as far back as the 1500s in the chronicles of explorers who rampaged through both the Southeast and Southwest. They unfortunately do not describe the flutes -- what they were made of, what they looked like or how they sounded.

Another Native American Flute is the Eagle Bone Whistle.