DCM 0205: Henry Johnson, North American Indian (Ute) Courting Flute (Vertical Whistle Flute)

The next-to-top lashing also secures the carved wood flue cover, which is also glued into position. The flue plate is tinned steel, glued and lashed into position just beneath the flue cover and indented into the flue to form the edge. Decorated with simple lines burned into both the tube and the flue cover. DCM ledger: "Ute Tribe."
Instrument type: Courting Flute (Vertical Whistle Flute)
Medium: Light wood, rawhide thongs, tinned steel flue plate.; 46.7 cm.
Key Holes System: 0/6 holes.
Condition: Apparently no mouthpipe.
Provenance: Frances Densmore, Red Wing, Minnesota, Dec. 1921

The Dayton C. Miller collection in the Library of Congress, contains nearly 1,700 flutes and other wind instruments, statuary, iconography, books, music, trade catalogs, tutors, patents, and other materials mostly related to the flute. It includes both Western and non-Western examples of flutes from around the world, with at least 460 European and American instrument makers represented. Items in the collection date from the 16th to the 20th century.