Ptehíŋčala Ska Wiŋ (White Buffalo Calf Woman) Divine Messenger to the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (People of the Seven Council Fires)

Kevin Locke, MEd

I have had a lifelong drive to explore and create. In 1972 Richard Fool Bull the foremost exemplar and practitioner of the Indigenous North American flute urged me to take up and perpetuate this unique and precious heritage that has evolved and developed here in this continent from time immemorial. It was through him and many other elders that I caught a glimpse of the dreams, hopes and visions that have propelled our ancestors. Those elders have departed but their spirit lives through the traditions they have passed on to us and comes alive when we actively engage younger generations in their perpetuation. We can realize the fulfillment of those dreams on their behalf. When I first started with the flute I wanted to develop a repertoire. Fortunately when I started in the mid 1970’s many of the older generation had a great knowledge of the unique vocal genre from which the flute melodies are derived and I was able to obtain a vast reservoir of this special genre. The current popularized “Native American flute” was invented in 1980 for commercial purposes in that it uses the well-known “melodic” or minor pentatonic scale and lends itself to improvisation. I differentiate that from the original Indigenous North American flute, which is much more versatile and has a wider range of notes and is perfectly adapted to play not only chromatic, diatonic and pentatonic scales but its note progression is able to capture the authentic Indigenous North American musical esthetic.