The FLute 001 By George L. Tibbetts Jr.

I knew today would be special. I knew because I am surrounded by wonderful people and events that keep me writing most of the time. I was already excited about going to Hallowell to do the Slates 30th Anniversary story where I was sure to run into old friends and neighbors. But Debbie informed me in the morning that today was going to be special for another reason. She had been told that I was going to receive a gift. However, Deb said she was as much in the dark as to what the gift could be as I was.

Around noon my new friend, Randy, showed up on my doorstep. We met through a mutual friend only a few weeks prior. Since our first meeting Randy has been coming by most weekends  he has open. He and I talked a lot because, like me, he is part Native American. He would tell stories about experiences he had at New England Pow Wows and his studies surrounding Native American traditions and cultures. I have learned a lot from him. All of us particularly enjoy it when he plays his Indian flute. His notes are captivating and seem to take you to another place. He told me that when he plays the flute outdoors the notes draw foxes, birds, and other animals into view. He also explained to me that many people believe the Indian flute came into being as a result of a young brave who could not impress the girl of his dreams because he was not a good hunter or fisherman. Women of his village were only interested in young men that they knew would be good providers. His heart was broken because she would never let his eyes meet hers.

He knew that he could attract animals with his flute and wondered if he could come up with a song that would play to her heart and get her attention. He hoped that his flute could replace the traditional ways of his peers who won over hearts with hunting prowess, bows, arrows and spears. He went into the woods and began playing a new song with his flute. He played for a long time and at some point during his playing he looked up to see her standing next to him. It was because of his flute that she accepted him to be her husband.

When he came to visit this time, Randy told me that he brought a message and a gift. He began talking about the human spirit and how all of us have a spiritual oneness with the natural world. As he talked he took out an old oyster shell, a bit of charcoal, some sage and a wooden match. As he lit the match, he said that a wooden match is used because it was from the natural world. A lighter or other means would contaminate the process of producing a smudge that was started for the purpose of cleansing his body and the gift that would be revealed to me later.

As the smudge grew he used his hands to wisp smoke rising from the shell toward his face first, then his chest and lastly over his head. When he brought the smoke toward his head the intent was to cleanse his mind. Moving the smoke toward his chest was to cleanse the heart. The over the head motion was the process of cleansing his soul. He repeated the process several times. From his backpack he then pulled out a flute. He slid the flute back and forth above the smudge to remove all previous spirits from it. He also did this several times making sure not to miss any point of the instrument including inside the shaft itself.

As Randy maintained a hold on the flute, he told me that when he had met us just a few weeks earlier that he was convinced our meeting was not by chance but was a matter of destiny. He told me he felt a very strong energy present in our home. He then offered, “When I met you, George, I new I had found a kindred spirit that was strong and was also based in knowledge of Native American culture. I knew I had found an important new friend,” he said. Randy said he had not made any similar connection with anyone else in many years.

Randy told me that he believed my spirit was Drum and that his spirit was Eagle noting that rarely does a day pass when he doesn’t see one. That being said, he added, the gift of the flute was being presented to me for reasons unrelated to the fact that it was a musical instrument. “This flute came to me as a present but I was never comfortable playing it or having it in my possession. Something was missing in the story of this flute. I came to believe that this flute really belonged to someone else. I just didn’t know who it belonged to until I met you,” he concluded.

With the flute laying across the palms of his hands, Randy then offered the flute to me. As I accepted the flute he relayed the rest of the tradition to me. “This flute is exclusively yours. With it I transfer part of my spirit directly to you. In part, I now live within you and you within me,” he said. “It must not be played by others and if you pass to the spirit world before I do, your flute which is part of your spirit is to be passed back to me. My flute on the other hand is part of my spirit and if I pass on to the spirit world before you, my flute becomes yours. Through our flutes we become and remain brothers for all time,” he said.

Whenever I pick up my flute I think of Randy and the Native American people. I also think of my Grandmother and her family who would have understood the lessons of this story in a much more in-depth way than I do. However, I know that her blood runs through my veins and all my life I have felt a special kinship with the natural world around me because of her. I think she would be proud that my roots and her teachings have not escaped me and never will. She would also be very pleased that, like Randy, I am learning to make beautiful notes on my flute.