Traditional Native American flutes are known by several names, the most common being love flutes, or courting flutes. As the name suggests, they were flutes played in courting rituals – by a young man serenading his intended bride. Generally they were played for no other reason, although some men are known to have played them for their wives as asign of love.
Courtship was not the private affair that western culture takes for granted. Most courting was very formal, and took place in full view of the rest of the tribe. When a young man courted a woman he was dressed and painted in his finest . He carried a special blanket, woven by the female members of his family – a sister or other close female relation, which he would invite the woman to share.
There, standing together under the watchful eyes of the tribe, they whispered together – the only form of “privacy” afforded them. A popular girl might have a row of young men waiting for her, each carrying his own courting blanket to wrap her close to him.
How the love flute came to be a part of these courting rituals is the subject of many sacred stories. The one that follows is based on a Dakota myth as told in the wonderful little book, “Love Flute” A long time ago, there lived a young man who was very shy. He was brave in battle, and led the buffalo hunt with courage, yet when it came to speaking his love to the girl he wanted to marry, he was too shy to speak. He would stand helplessly, his eyes cast to the ground, while other young men stood with their courting blankets outside the tipi of the girl’s father.
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