Native American Flute Gallery

This section contains a photographic selection of old Native American flutes. Photographs were made with permission and through courtesy of The Library of Congress (The Dayton C.Miller Flute Collection), The Peabody Museum (Boston), The Heye Museum (New York), The Smithsonian Institute (Washington, DC), The Denver Museum of Natural History (Denver) and the Wild Horse Mountain Flutes collection. Historical information concerning most of the flutes is meager. At best there was some information concerning tribal association for a particular flute; however even this data most be taken cautiously because of trading or giving of flutes from one tribal member to the member of another tribe. These photographs are candid and without professional quality. They were obtained primarily as a source for crafting traditional flutes.

Enter the Gallery

Maker unknown; appears to be crafted from pipestone (Catlinlite)Maker unknown; appears to be crafted from pipestone (Catlinlite) Caddo flute Contributed by James MooneyCaddo flute Contributed by James Mooney Winnebago fluteWinnebago flute Lakota-style flute; possibly crafted by Dan Red BuffaloLakota-style flute; possibly crafted by Dan Red Buffalo Cheyenne fluteCheyenne flute Lakota fluteLakota flute Delaware flute;circa 1900Delaware flute;circa 1900 Wichita fluteWichita flute Ute fluteUte flute Origin and maker unknownOrigin and maker unknown Contributed by Frances DensmoreContributed by Frances Densmore Winnebago fluteWinnebago flute Winnebago fluteWinnebago flute Lakota fluteLakota flute Cheyenne fluteCheyenne flute Arickaree fluteArickaree flute Lakota fluteLakota flute Southern Cheyenne fluteSouthern Cheyenne flute Wichita fluteWichita flute UteUte Lakota fluteLakota flute Origin unknownOrigin unknown Origin unknownOrigin unknown Origin unknownOrigin unknown Origin unknownOrigin unknown Lakota fluteLakota flute Nez Perce fluteNez Perce flute