Everything I know about working with my hands and being creative I learned from my family. I carry the perspective that Native Peoples are not some museum exhibit: we are real people just like everybody else. I am a member of the Navajo tribe and have been playing the Native American flute for almost ten years. I work full-time as a flute maker and have been creating hand-created, unique, culturally-important flutes for over three years. I “Everything I know about working with my hands and being creative I learned from my family. I carry the perspective that Native Peoples are not some museum exhibit: we are real people just like everybody else. I am a member of the Navajo tribe and have been playing the Native American flute for almost ten years. I work full-time as a flute maker and have been creating hand-created, unique, culturally-important flutes for over three years. I-™ve always loved creating and working with my hands. The flutes I create are living heirlooms of cultural memory and world-renown for their unique construction and tonal quality. Symbolically, each flute is an extension of who I am and the lessons I’ve learned in life: some flute-makers throw out the wood if it has a flaw or a knot. I make the flawed wood whole, usable, and more beautiful by filling the knot with turquoise or silver and smoothing the joint.

I am also a skilled silversmith and enjoy designing and creating jewelry. Family has shaped what I make and who I am as an artist: my paternal grandmother was a silversmith and the stories my dad shared with me about her inspired my learning about jewelry-making. I look forward to teaching people of all ages and backgrounds about the history, meaning, and practice of playing the Native American flute. Teachers can learn the history of the Native American flute and its cultural significance: I can teach them a song and round dance that they could share with their students and explain why these practices are still important. I engage the audience members with stories of the traditional flute; I teach kids how to play the flute and tell them the story of how the flute came to Native Americans. I can tell stories about and perform on the three traditional Native American instruments: drum, flute, and rattle. I enjoy telling stories about the origins of traditional songs and performing them; showing videos of how I make flutes. I teach on-site demonstrations of how to make a small wood carving; I can sing and play in collaboration with family members who are Native jingle, fancy, and round dancers and we often perform together. I can teach the round dance to large and small groups.