In 1931 five whole prehistoric flutes were discovered in Arizona. These Anasazi flutes have been dated to 620-630 a.d. These flutes are on display at Arizona State Museum in Tucson, AZ.

Legend holds that an Indian brave spotted a limb on the ground that had been split by lightning and each half hollowed out by a woodpecker. The woodpecker had pecked several holes in one half of the limb. The brave took the two halves to his medicine man for interpretation. The medicine man suggested reconnecting the two halves to be used as a musical instrument. (Personally, I wasn't there, but this seems as good an explanations any).

Native American flutes are often called courting flutes which explains one of their functions. North American Indian tribes also used the flutes to produce dance music for their ceremonies and festivals.
The tone or pitch of ancient flutes was determined by the size of the tree branch from which it was made along with the spacing of the holes. The early flutes were made from the juniper family of trees including cedar. Today flutes are made of these same woods plus cherry, redwood, ash, walnut, spruce and many exotic domestic and imported woods.

Flute music is often accompanied by Sounds from rattles and drums as it was hundreds of years ago.

The list of the Indian tribes and cultures that played the flute includes Anasazi, Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cahuilla, Cayuga, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Cree, Creek, Crow, Chumash, Hopi, Hualapai, Huron, Iroquois, Kakapo, Kiowa, Mojave, Navajo, Nez Perce, Ojibay, Omaha, Osage, Ottawa, Paiute, Papago, Pawnee, Pima, Seminole , Seneca, Shasta, Shawnee, Shoshone, Sioux, Taos, Tarahumara, Ute, Winnebago, Yakima, Yana, Yaqui, Yuma, Zuni and many other lesser known tribes.

MAY: Planting Moon, An(i)sgvti, Families traditionally prepare the fields and sow them with the stored seeds from last season. Corn, beans, squashes, tomatoes, potatoes, yams and sunflowers are some food planted at this time. A dance traditionally done at this time is the “Corn Dance”.