Native flute connects kids to culture

Native flute gives students a voice

By Cindy Yurth"I thought, 'God, someone's got to help these kids,'" he said. "'This is an epidemic.'"

It wasn't until the following day it occurred to Redhouse that the person to help those kids might be him. The Filipino/Navajo Tucson resident was scheduled to demonstrate the Native flute to an assembly at St. Michael Indian School.

"The kids were very responsive," he said. "I thought, 'We're going to have a Native flute class to connect kids with their culture.' All of a sudden, it seemed imperative."

Redhouse got the blessing of the school's administration, and now he travels between Tucson and St. Michaels, Ariz., to share his unique fingering system, which allows people to play a wider range of notes than is usually possible on the Native flute.Comment:  For more on the subject, see A Suite for Native American Flute and Concerto for Violin and Native Flute.

Below:  "St. Michael High School students, from left, Gerlyn Begay, Murvyn Hoskie Jr., Derek Davis, Xuxua Garnenez, and Robert Manygoats, prepare to play the Native flute Saturday at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock." (Special to the Times--Donovan Quintero)