r/nativeamericanflutes

TLDR - is this flute broken or missing pieces? No sound comes out.

Hi everyone,

My brother got this flute about 25 years ago from somewhere in South Dakota. I am not sure if it was a gift or if he purchased it.

Back in Australia, we have been cleaning out our childhood home and I came across the flute. Excuse my ignorance, but is it broken or missing a piece?

In Google photos it looks like the totem bird is tied over a hole at the top. The top of the flute has a pointed tip, with a small hole in it. I couldn't see any like it when I Googled it.

When I tried holding the totem bird in place (based off Google photos I was looking at) with 1 hand and covering some notes with the other I couldn't produce a sound.

Is it broken/missing pieces or do I just need to secure the totem at the right spot? Also, the little hole at the very top is teeny tiny. (Australia in currency used for scale - not much help to many people in this subreddit, I imagine!)

If you can point me in the right direction or give me your advice I would really appreciate it. The sound of the flute on YouTube clips is just so beautiful and it would awesome to learn to play the instrument.

Thanks so much!

A second clip from the four I got 2 days ago!

Each rack holds up to 22 flutes. The dowel rods are of various heights to accommodate different flute sizes. Taller rods toward the center work well for longer flutes, while the shorter, thinner rods around the outside (first pic, right side) are for smaller flutes. Of the two racks, the tallest rod measures 11 inches and supports a 34 incher.

These were made by a gentleman in PA a few years ago. I found him on Etsy.

One of four recordings from today's chill session!

Triple Drone in Dm by Dustin @ Elemental Flutes. I did the wood burning, super happy with the result. This flute sounds and looks fantastic! I think I will need to burn more flutes in the future.

I was practicing my flute and walking my dog while waiting for my semi truck to get unloaded. I randomly decided to play along with the backup beeper of one of the trucks and found this little tune.

Sorry for the squeakiness on some of the low notes, I’m still getting used to my new flute by u/Spaced_In