Native American flutes are also known as, love flutes, or courting flutes. They were flutes played in courting rituals, as the name suggests, by a young man serenading his bride to be. Traditionally they were not played for any other reason, except by men expressing their love for their wives.
To make a Native American flute, a young man would go to the woods and find a suitable piece of cedar. Cedar splits very easily along the grain, so he would split it, carve it and glue it back together with pitch. He would then tune it to the best of his ability and then learn a tune to court his bride to be.
Courting was not done privately as it is now. It was a public affair and took place with the whole tribe as witness. When a young brave went courting he was dressed and painted in his finest clothes and carried a blanket which had been woven by a female in his family. He would invite his bride to be to share the blanket.
Standing together they would quietly whisper to each other. Often the most popular girls in the tribe would have a whole line of men standing waiting each with their own courting blanket in hopes of wrapping his love close to him.
How the love flute came to be part of the courting ritual is not known but there are many opinions and stories. This on is based on a Dakota myth wonderfully told in the children's book called "Love Flute", by Paul Goble.(Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997).
The Story of the Love Flute
A long time ago, there lived a young man who was very shy. He was brave in battle, and led the buffalo hunt with courage, yet when it came to speaking his love to the girl he wanted to marry, he was too shy to speak. He would stand helplessly, his eyes cast to the ground, while other young men stood with their courting blankets outside the tipi of the girl's father.
The young man thought about the girl day and night. In his dreams she was still there before his eyes, yet even in his dreams he lacked the courage to tell her of his love.
He watched her from a distance when she fetched water from the river, and his heart was heavy when he saw the other young men who talked to her so easily, whistled to her to gain her attention, and in a hundred ways vied for her love. The young man was sure that the girl did not notice him
One day, his heart aching, he left the camp and wandered alone. In despair he drew his bow and without a thought he let fly an arrow into the air.
To his amazement the arrow stayed aloft. It seemed to him that the arrow pointed ahead. He followed the direction of the arrow and found that it moved ahead at a steady pace which he could follow. He followed the arrow all day, and when evening came the arrow fell to earth beside a stream.
He slept beside the stream, and in the morning shot another arrow into the sky. Again the arrow stayed aloft, and led him on. That evening it, too, sank to earth beside a stream. This continued for a total of four days.
On the fourth day the young man slept at the edge of a forest. In that half-dream state between waking and sleep, two Elk Men appeared to him, and told him that they had come to help him. "We have come to give you this flute", one said, and when he blew into the flute he carried, the sound was so beautiful that even the forest stood breathlessly listening.
The Elk Man told him, "This flute is made from the wood of the cedar, because cedars grow where the winds blow. Woodpecker made these finger holes in the flute with his beak."
The other Elk Man told him "All the birds and animals helped to make this flute, and their voices sing within it. When you play this flute for the girl you love, all our voices sing with you. Your music will speak the words of love that your voice alone cannot."
Then the Elk Men were gone, but there, lying on sage leaves, was the flute. The young man set off towards his home, his heart light. He played the flute as he walked, and the cranes joined in his song. For four days he walked, playing his music, and listening to the sounds of the animals and birds. He imitated the sounds of the animals on his flute, and from those sounds he made melodies
As evening drew near on the fourth day, he reached the hill above his camp. There he paused to play his flute, and the sounds of the beautiful music he made carried into the camp and thrilled the heart of every woman there.
But one woman, the girl he loved, knew that the music spoke straight to her heart. The girl left her tipi and joined the young man on the hill. She listened to the words of love that his music spoke more eloquently than his voice could express. "I love you. I love you."
