Native American Indian artifact from the Fenn collection

Collection: Fenn

Item Number: FCFLU707

Category: Flute

Region: Plains

Tribe: Sioux

Period: 1875-1900

Materials: Wood, pewter, brass, feathers, catlinite, paint, cotton string.

Description: A love flute made by splitting the wood, hollowing it out, then gluing it back again. The head of a loon is carved on the end and painted dark blue. Five cast pewter bands hold the flute together and a cluster of stripped owl feathers are tied on with cotton string and buckskin thongs. The mouth piece is a brass sewing thimble. Six holes are cut in the top and a piece of rectangular cut catlinite sits atop the sounding hole.

Dimensions: Length 29 inches

References:

Hanson, James A., Spirits in the Arts: From the Plains and Soutwest Indian Cultures, The Lowell Press, Kansas City, 1994, pp 49