Cottonwood Branch Flute in Gm
click on video for sound sample
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The bark
has been left on this unsplit, solid bore Cottonwood (Populus
fremontii) branch flute, measuring 20 1/4"
in length, with a 7/8" diameter sound chamber. She
is clearly and soulfully voiced to a
Mode 1&4 Gm pentatonic scale, playing three upper register notes. A
few small knot holes have been
inlaid with crushed Malachite. Deer leather lacing
with Malachite and Brass beads secures the bird to its nest.
To help prevent wet-out, the bird has been fitted with a Cedar shoe,
and a drain hole, covered by the lacing, has been drilled into the
bottom of the air chamber. The branch for this flute was
gathered with respect and
gratitude from a downed Cottonwood
branch that fell from a tree growing in the San Marcos
Creek
watershed of California.
Black Elk relates why the Cottonwood tree is sacred to the Lakota: ”Long ago it was the
cottonwood who taught us how to make our tipis,
for the leaf of the tree is an exact pattern of the tipi, and this was
learned when some of our old men were watching little children making
play houses from the leaves. This too is a good example of how much
grown men may learn from very little children, for the hearts of the
children are pure, and therefore the Great Spirit may show to them many
things which older people miss. Another reason why we choose the
cottonwood tree to be at the center of our lodge is that the Great
Spirit has shown to us that, if you cut an upper limb of this tree
crosswise,there
you will see in the
grain a perfect five pointed star which, to us,
represents the presence of the Great Spirit. Also perhaps
you have noticed that even in the very slightest breeze you can hear
the voice of the cottonwood tree; this we understand is its prayer to
the Great Spirit, for not only men, but all things and all beings pray
to Him continually in different ways.” ~ Black Elk
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