DCM 0238: Anonymous, North American Indian (Pilager) Courting Flute (Vertical Whistle Flute)

The flue cover is, for this plain instrument, unusually ornate, carved, possibly to resemble a rattlesnake's rattle, integral mouthpipe. DCM ledger: "Pilager Tribe of Minnesota."
Instrument type: Courting Flute (Vertical Whistle Flute)
Medium: Unidentified wood, flue cover of soapstone, pipestone(?).; 40.9 cm.
Key Holes System: 0/6 holes.
Mark Maximum: No mark.
Provenance: George R. Moore, Jamesville, Wisconsin, 22 Feb. 1922.

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.