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During the past several years I have had
the good fortune to own some of the most beautiful looking and
playing flutes I have ever seen. My even greater good fortune
has been to meet many of the makers whose flutes are pictured
on this page. This flute is perhaps one of the most famous Native
American flutes. It was made in 1996 by Hawk and Geri LittleJohn.
Hawk did the carving and inlay work. I have shown this flute
at many flute gatherings and it is pictured on several websites.
Most commonly this is referred to as "The White Bird Flute",
but Hawk named this flute "Strong Medicine". It depicts
a Cherokee man who is being burned at the stake. The man's spirit
is strong as shown by the serenity of his face and body. Because
the man's spirit is so strong, at the moment of the death of
his body the White Spirit Bird will take the man's spirit to
the Seventh Heaven. The flute body is cherry wood. The White
Bird is holly wood which is naturally white. |
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Brigitte Lopez did the incredible carving
on this flute made by J. P. Gomez. The flute is a drone in the
key of E. The carving depicts a trip along the Big Sur Coast
that Brigitte and Mac Lopez, Hawk and Geri LittleJohn, and my
wife (the Lovely Patricia) and I made together a few years ago. |
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My friend Mahewa does the most amazingly
detailed carvings. Believe it or not this river otter is one
of his less striking works! |
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This flute is an excellent example of my
Brother Hawk LittleJohn's creativity and ability to reflect in
his art that which he honors in his heart. Hawk named this flute
"Life Giver". Hawk was powerfully touched by the fertility
of spring in the Smoky Mountains where he lived. This flute has
inlay work depicting a pregnant woman and flowers. The fetish/block
is carved from a togua (sp) nut from South America. The flute
body is made from cherry wood. |
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Jack Thomas is a man of many talents. I am
honored to have Jack as a friend and as a trusted Elder Brother
in my life. Jack handcarved the "basket weave" detail
that makes up the body of this flute as well as the lifelike
otter that is the block. Evidencing the greatness of his spirit,
his kindness, and his love of Hawk LittleJohn, Jack donated this
flute to be auctioned to raise money for Hawk and his family
when Hawk was sick. This flute sold for $3,000.00 at that original
auction, every penny of which went to help Hawk during his illness.
I later acquired this flute from the person who bought it at
auction (who wishes to remain anonymous). |
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I am not sure that Geri and Hawk LittleJohn
ever made anything that should be called a "basic"
flute, but here are several Woodsong Flutes that they made without
detailed inlay or carving work. From top to bottom these flutes
are; Bb spalted maple, D palonia, F chestnut (wood salvaged by
Hawk from 150 year old school house), F lightening struck poplar,
F# bloodwood, A purpleheart, high Bb palonia with bark on in
places, high D redwood burl, high E wood unknown. |
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I am fortunate to live near Guillermo Martinez
and was honored to work with him in getting the Southern California
Flute Circle started. Guillermo does masterful work in wood and
clay. I own several of his wooden flutes, ancient clay instrument
replicas, and drums. This is a striking example of his work. |
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I think it was either 1995 or 96 that I first
ran across the flutes of a maker named Robert Two Hawks. This
is the first of his flutes I acquired. I later got another one
almost exactly like this one. I got this flute from a trader
at a powwow. About a year later I saw the same trader at another
powwow and told him I would like to meet Robert. The trader told
me that Robert had passed away that year. It is my understanding
that Robert was Cherokee but that he lived his last days on a
reservation in Idaho. This flute is entirely hand crafted. It
came with a tag that Robert had put on it saying "Yucchi
Style Flute". I was not familiar with the Yucchi tribe but
later discovered that they were/are from the southeast coastal
area and were early on decimated by Europeans. Notably the flute
has grooves at the finger holes, is tied with sinew, and uses
a piece of what appears to be pounded lead for the splitting
edge of the sound hole. I have read that some flutemakers of
an earlier period used pounded musket balls in this way. |
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For the Cherokee people the rabbit (tsisdu)
plays the role of the trickster or fool that in some other tribes
might be played by the coyote or crow. Cherokee heritage is rich
in tales of Tsisdu's many adventures. This flute is made of lightening
struck poplar and is inlaid to depict the story of Tsisdu's race
with the turtle. This is another example of Hawk LittleJohn's
awesome artistry. The carved block shows the two-toned beauty
that sometimes occurs in lightening struck poplar. |
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This flute was made by Geri and Hawk LittleJohn
and the ornate carving was done by another member of their family,
Steve Gallup. The wood is lightening struck poplar and there
are numerous images carved throughout. Not adequately shown in
the pictures is a rattlesnake that curves around the finger holes
and a bird whose wings wrap around the lower part of the flute. |
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On the many occasions when I have shown my
flutes at flute gatherings Spirit Of Fire has been one of the
most popular ones for people to look at and play. It is a drone
in the key of G that is made of lightening struck poplar. It
is extensively inlaid with many different materials and shows
the smoke rising from a fire and "morphing" into a
flute player. This is another Woodsong Flute made by Hawk and
Geri LittleJohn with Hawk doing the inlay and carving work. |
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Once again Hawk LittleJohn's creativity is
shown here. The object pictured below is an entirely functional
(actually exquisite sounding) flute. It is also an entirely functional
full size walking cane. The cane/flute body is made of bloodwood
inlaid with turquoise. The handle is made of walnut. The carving
on the handle and the paw/foot prints on the body are intended
to depict the changing of spirit forms |
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Tuned to play with the drone flute Spirit
Of Fire, and made at the same time, Trader depicted below is
another of Hawk's extraordinary carved figurine flutes. Trader
shows a Cherokee man being greeted by his dog as he returns home
from a journey to trade goods. In one hand the man holds a walking
stick and in the other a flute. Not shown is the carrying basket
on his back which contains actual grains of corn. Selu is the
Cherokee word for corn and it represents the food staples that
the man would need to support his family. Hawk told me that perhaps
the man made flutes and took them to trade for his family's food. |
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This is a river cane flute that Hawk made
when he was showing me how. |
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This flute was a gift from Hawk shortly before
he got sick. It is a little flute that he called "Gili Usdi"
which is Cherokee for Little Dog. I wonder who he was teasing
with that name? |
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This flute was also a gift. It is a prototype
where Hawk was experimenting with ergonomics, It is a sideblown
midrange F#. |
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This is what Hawk called a "Grandfather
Tuned" flute. By that he meant that it was made based on
body part measurements in the old way. The flute is tuned to
itself but not to a standard tuning. |
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This too was a gift. It is a little high
E. My grand-daughter learned to play on this one...........well
actually more like she teethed on this one!!! |
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This flute demonstrates the more lifelike
inlay work that Hawk was doing just before he got sick. This
flute is named Spirit Warrior. |
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This flute was made in the spring of 1998
it is made of lightening struck poplar and is named Spring Warrior.
This flute was made almost a year to the day before the flute
shown earlier that is named Life Giver. Note that Hawk's awareness
of the changing of seasons and his love of spring in the Smoky
Mountains led to the similarity of the flowers and greenery between
the two flutes. |
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