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Carved wooden flute with green stripes and etched snake design
Unknown
Carved wooden flute with leather straps and red pigment
Unknown

Carved wooden flute with leather straps / Unknown

Essay/Description

Wooden flutes. Top held on with leather string. Engraved ribs around the flute.

Flutes have existed in Native American cultures since at least 625 C.E., when the earliest known flute was created. They have been made from many materials, including wood, reed, and bone, and are typically vertical. In the Plains region, the wooden flute’s soothing melodic sound is known as a courting instrument, whose sound would help a man woo his beloved (Fauntleroy 2006).

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Title(s): 
Carved wooden flute with leather straps
Creator(s): 
Unknown
Culture: 
Native American; Plains
Date: 
late 19th century
Period: 
Historic
Place: 
United States of America
Materials/Techniques: 
wood, leather
Classification: 
Object Type: 
Accession No: 
73.125
Department: 
Not On View

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