What is a Native American Flute?

First of all, it is not a Japanese  flute.  It is also not an Indonesian flute.  It is not a Mayan flute, although a Mayan flute is Native American.  It is not a guitar, sitar, or grand piano.  It is a flute made in the totally unique way of the Indigenous Peoples of the North American continent.  It can be made by a Japanese American, Indonesian American, Mayan American, Mexican American, African American, Oriental American, White American, or anyone else who has a mind to make one - even a Native American!  The name Native American Flute no more implies that the instrument was made by a Native American than the term Japanese flute implies that the instrument was made by a Japanese person, or that a Mayan Flute was made by a Mayan.  It is simply the style of flute!

I am not a member of a recognized band of Cherokee!  

To our Government, that means I am not Cherokee.

To my People, that means I can't vote in elections, can't use Tribal benefits that my family did not help build, and can't get a "cdib" card from the BIA.   (Don't think that all the funds available for tribal aid to needy members are from the Government.  Far from it!  Most of the funds are from ranching, farming,  business ventures, and good, old fashioned hard work to build those funds.)

I can take part in any festival, ceremony, and fellowship my people have.  My great Grand Father fought in one of Stand Waite's regiments in the Civil War.  My family is Cherokee, but it is the path I walk that makes me Cherokee, and

I am Cherokee!