Native American musical instrument
The Native American flute is a musical instrument and flute that is held in front of the player, has open finger holes,
and has two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound.
The player breathes into one end of the flute
without the need for an embouchure.
A "block" on the outside of the instrument
directs the player's breath from the first chamber—called the slow air chamber—into the second chamber—called the sound chamber.
The design of a "sound hole" at the proximal end of the sound chamber causes
air from the player's breath to vibrate.
This vibration causes a steady resonance of air pressure
in the sound chamber that creates sound.
Native American flutes comprise a wide range of designs, sizes, and variations—far more varied than most other classes of woodwind instruments.
Names.
The instrument is known by many names. Some of the reasons for the variety of names include: the varied uses of the instrument (e.g. courting),
the wide dispersal of the instrument across language groups and geographic regions,
legal statutes (see the Indian Arts And Crafts Act),
and the Native American name controversy.
Native American names for the flute include:
Alternative English-language names include:
"American Indian courting flute",
"courting flute", 
"Grandfather's flute",
"Indian flute",
"love flute", 
"Native American courting flute",
"Native American love flute",
"Native American style flute" (see the Indian Arts And Crafts Act),
"North American flute",
"Plains flute",
and "Plains Indian courting flute".
Names in other languages include:
Naming conventions.
By convention, English-language uses of the name of the instrument are capitalized as "Native American flute". This is in keeping with the English-language capitalization of other musical instruments that use a cultural name, such as "French horn".
The prevalent term for a person who plays Native American flutes is "flutist". This term predominates the term "flautist". "Flute maker" is the predominant term for people who "craft" Native American flutes.
Organology.
The instrument is classified in the 2011 revision of the Hornbostel–Sachs system by the MIMO Consortium
as 421.23—"Flutes with internal duct formed by an internal baffle (natural node, block of resin) plus an external tied-on cover (cane, wood, hide)". This HS class also includes the Suling.
Although Native American flutes are played by directing air into one end, it is not strictly an end-blown flute,
since the sound mechanism uses a fipple design
using an external "block" that is fixed to the instrument.
The use of "open finger holes" (finger holes that are played by the direct application and removal of fingers, as opposed to keys) classifies the Native American flute as a simple system flute.
History.
There are many narratives about how different Indigenous peoples of the Americas invented the flute. In one narrative, woodpeckers pecked holes in hollow branches while searching for termites; when the wind blew along the holes, people nearby heard its music. Another narrative from the Tucano culture describes
Uakti, a creature with holes in his body that would produce sound when he ran or the wind blew through him.
It is not well known how the design of the Native American flute developed before 1823.
Some of the influences may have been:
It is also possible that instruments were carried from other cultures during
migrations.
Flutes of the Mississippian culture have been found that appear to have the two-chambered design characteristic of Native American flutes. They were constructed of river cane. The earliest such flute is curated by the Museum Collections of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. It was recovered in about 1931 by Samuel C. Dellinger and more recently identified as a flute by James A. Rees, Jr. of the Arkansas Archeological Society. The artifact is known colloquially as "The Breckenridge Flute" and was conjectured to date in the range 750–1350 CE. 
This conjecture proved to be accurate when, in 2013, a sample from the artifact yielded a date range of 1020–1160 CE (95% probability calibrated date range).
The earliest extant Native American flute crafted of wood was collected by the Italian adventurer Giacomo Costantino Beltrami in 1823 on his search for the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It is now in the collection of the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali in Bergamo, Italy.
Construction.
Components.
The two ends of a Native American flute along the longitudinal axis are called the 
"head end" (the end closest to the player's mouth—also called the "North end", "proximal end", or "top end")
and the "foot end" (also called the "bottom end", "distal end", or "South end").
The Native American flute has two air chambers:
the "slow air chamber" (also called the "SAC", "compression chamber", "mouth chamber",
"breath chamber", "first chamber", "passive air chamber", "primary chamber", or "wind chamber")
and the "sound chamber" (also called the "pipe body",
"resonating chamber", "tone chamber", "playing chamber", or "variable tube").
A "plug" (also called an "internal wall", "stopper", "baffle", or "partition")
inside the instrument separates the slow air chamber from the sound chamber.
The "block" on the outside of the instrument is a separate part that can be removed.
The block is also called the "bird", the "fetish", the "saddle", or the "totem".
The block is tied by a "strap" onto the "nest" of the flute.
The block moves air through a "flue"
from the slow air chamber to the sound chamber.
The block is often in the shape of a bird.
Note that flutes of the Mi'kmaq culture are typically constructed from a separate block, but the block is permanently fixed
to the body of the flute during construction (typically with glue).
Even though these flutes do not have a movable block, they are
generally considered to be Native American flutes.
The precise alignment and longitudinal position of the block is critical to getting the desired sound from the instrument.
The longitudinal position also has a modest effect on the pitches produced by the flute,
giving the player a range of roughly 10–40 cents of pitch adjustment.
The slow air chamber has a "mouthpiece" and "breath hole" for the player's breath.
Air flows through the slow air chamber and up the "ramp", through the "exit hole", and into the flue.
The slow air chamber can serve as a secondary resonator, which can give some flutes a distinctive sound.
The sound chamber contains the "sound hole", which creates the vibration of air that causes sound when the airflow
reaches the "splitting edge".
The sound hole can also be called the "whistle hole", the "window", or the "true sound hole" ("TSH").
The splitting edge can also be called the "cutting edge", the "fipple edge", the "labium", or the "sound edge".
The sound chamber also has "finger holes" that allows the player to change the
frequency of the vibrating air.
Changing the frequency of the vibration changes the pitch of the sound produced.
The finger holes on a Native American flute are "open", meaning that fingers of the player cover the finger hole
(rather than metal levers or pads such as those on a clarinet).
This use of "open finger holes" classifies the Native American flute as a simple system flute.
Because of the use of open finger holes, the flutist must be able to reach all the finger holes on the instrument with their fingers,
which can limit the size of the largest flute (and lowest pitched flute) that a given flutist can play.
The finger holes can also be called the "note holes", the "playing holes", the "tone holes", or the "stops".
The "foot end" of the flute can have "direction holes".
These holes affect the pitch of the flute when all the finger holes are covered.
The direction holes also relate to (and derive their name from) the Four Directions of
East, South, West, and North found in many Indigenous American stories.
The direction holes can also be called the "tuning holes" or "wind holes".
In addition to the "Components of the Native American flute" diagram shown above with , diagrams are available with labels in
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and
Spacer plate.
An alternate design for the sound mechanism uses a "spacer plate" to create the flue.
The spacer plate sits between the nest area on the body of the flute and the removable block.
The spacer plate is typically held in place by the same strap that holds the block on the instrument.
The splitting edge can also be incorporated into the design of the spacer plate.
The spacer plate is often constructed of metal, but spacer plates have been constructed of wood, bark, and ceramic.
When positioning and securing the removable block with the strap,
the use of a spacer plate provides and additional degree of control over the sound and tuning of the flute.
However, it also adds a degree of complexity when performing the task of securing both the block and the spacer plate.
Plains style vs. Woodlands style.
Various sources describe attributes of Native American flute that are termed "Plains style" and "Woodlands style".
However, there is no general consensus among the various sources
about what these terms mean.
According to various sources the distinction is based on:
Branch flutes.
While many contemporary Native American flutes are crafted from milled lumber, some flutes are crafted from a branch of a tree. The construction techniques vary widely, but some makers of branch flutes will attempt to split the branch down a centerline, hollow out the inside, and then mate the halves back together for the completed flute.
Double and multiple flutes.
A double Native American flute is a type of double flute. It has two sound chambers that can be played simultaneously. The two chambers could have the same length or be different lengths.
The "secondary sound chamber" can hold a fixed pitch, in which case the term "drone flute" is sometimes used. The fixed pitch could match the fingering of the main sound chamber with all the finger holes covered, or it could match some other pitch on the main sound chamber.
Alternately, various configurations of finger holes on the two sound chambers can be used, in which case terms such as "harmony flute" or "harmonic flute" are sometimes used.
Extending the concept, Native American flutes with three or more chambers have been crafted. The general term "multiple flute" is sometimes used for these designs.
Dimensions.
Some Native American flutes constructed by traditional techniques were crafted using measurements of the body.
The length of the flute was the distance from inside of the elbow to tip of the index finger.
The length of the slow air chamber was the width of the fist.
The distance between the sound hole and first finger hole was the width of the fist.
The distance between finger holes would be the width of a thumb.
The distance from the last finger hole to the end of the flute was the width of the fist.
Flute makers currently use many methods to design the dimensions of their flutes.
This is very important for the location of the finger holes, since they control the pitches of the different notes of the instrument. Flute makers may use calculators to design their instruments, or use dimensions provided by other flute makers.
Materials.
Native American flutes are traditionally crafted of a wide range of materials, including
wood (cedar, juniper, walnut, cherry, and redwood are common),
bamboo, saw grass, and river cane. Flute makers from Indigenous cultures would often use anything that could be converted or made into a long hollow barrel, such as old gun barrels.
Poetic imagery regarding the covenant between flute maker and player
was provided by Kevin Locke in the "Songkeepers" video:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;The flute maker has to take that cedar, split it open, and remove that beautiful, straight-grained, aromatic, sweet, soft, deep-red heart of the cedar. And then they will re-attach both halves and put the holes in. And so the covenant or reciprocal agreement is that the flute player will instill the heart back into the wood — put their heart back in there.
Contemporary Native American flutes continue to use these materials, as well as plastics, ceramic, glass, and more exotic hardwoods such as ebony, padauk, and teak.
Various materials are chosen for their aromatic qualities, workability, strength and weight, and compatibility with construction materials such as glue and various finishes. Although little objective research has been undertaken, there are many subjective opinions expressed by flute makers and players about the sound qualities associated with the various materials used in Native American flutes.
Physical and mental benefits of the flute.
Heart rate variability.
One study that surveyed the physiological effects of playing Native American flutes found a significant positive effect on heart rate variability, a metric that is indicative of resilience to stress.
Music therapy.
The Native American flute is still used today in Music Therapy settings.
Known as Ojibwe music, usage of the flute is extremely beneficial for 
hospice, cancer, and cardiac patients to assist in managing anxiety, restlessness, fear, and pain. 
Flutes can provide a source of rehabilitation and encourage a sense of accomplishment. 
It guides patients in taking a deep breath and using controlled