BUY THIS ISSUE

ON THE COVER
Musician and flutemaker Bryan Akipa (Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux) seen here holding a five-hole, old-style Dakota flute he created around 1984 from eastern aromatic red cedar he gathered from the Badlands of South Dakota. Photo by Don Doll, J.S.

FEATURES

The Magic Flute: Timeless Native American Instrument
The history of the America Indian flute recedes into the mist of time like a haunting melody. We explore its many previous incarnations and profile a handful of master artisans who continue to handcraft these musical instruments today: Bryan Akipa (Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux), Alex Maldonado (Pascua Yaqui), Daniel Bigay (Echota Cherokee), Charles Littleleaf (Warm Springs/Piegan Blackfeet) and Sonny Nevaquaya (Comanche). Plus, brief notes on a dozen other flutemakers. By Gussie Fauntleroy.


Our People, Our Land, Our Images
This photographic essay of images from historic and contemporary Native photographers reveals how Native peoples have put the camera to use serving their own ends. The exhibition was organized by the University of California, Davis by Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Diné) and Veronica Passalacqua. Photographers included are Shan Goshorn (Cherokee), Zig Jackson (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara), Pena Bonita (Apache/Seminole), Larry McNeil (Tlingit), Teo Allain Chambi (Quechua), Martín Chambi (Quechua), Nikki Isham (Ojibwe) and Lee Marmon (Laguna Pueblo).

2006 Holiday Gift Guide
Our annual guide in photos and text to some of the most unique gifts created by Native artisans coast to coast—from Mohawk baskets and beadwork to Hopi katsinas, diamond-studded necklaces and Zuni fetishes. Photos by Kitty Leaken.

DEPARTMENTS

Viewpoint
The key to happiness is not in receiving, acquiring or even good health, but in expressing gratitude—an important message in this holiday season. By D.J. Vanas (Odawa).

On The Wind
Floyd Red Crow Westerman releases new bronze sculptures and music CD; a wrap-up of new developments in music; and the Heard Museum opens its Berlin Gallery. Also, other important news in the arts, education, the environment, business, politics, sports, health and other realms of life in Indian Country. By Daniel Gibson.

Happening
We travel to New York City for the biennial film and video festival of the National Museum of the American Indian. Plus details on other special events of Native interest across North America. By Daniel Gibson.

Spirit of the Harvest
Squash pie, apple pie and flaky pie crust are the theme of this pie-centric column focused on the recipes of Eleanor Dove (Narragansett). By Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs.

Pathways
Hiking the famous Inca Trail in Peru takes one from the dusty lowlands up a lung-bursting track among mist-enshrouded peaks and lush vegetation and into the sacred homelands of the Inca people—past and present—to the mystical ruins of Machu Picchu. Story and photos by Cindy Ross.

History
The United States-Dakota War of 1862 was a tragic conflict for all involved, from the hundreds of slaughtered white settlers to the 38 Dakota men hanged after the fighting—the largest mass execution
in U.S. history—and the expulsion of the Dakota people from Minnesota following a brutal confinement. By Sidney H. Byrd (Santee Sioux).

Galleries
The Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis has been showing regional cutting-edge Native art since its opening in 1985, and continues with a new show featuring Star Wallowing Bull (White Earth Ojibwe/Arapaho). Also, brief looks at other Native-oriented galleries throughout the continent. By Russ Tall Chief (Osage).

Museums
The Museum at Warm Springs, Oregon set the standards for tribal museums when it opened in 1993 and today remains committed to telling the tale of the Confederated Tribes—the Paiute, Wasco and Warm Springs peoples. Also, notes on other museum exhibitions coast to coast. By Wendy Weston (Diné).

Music
We visit with Brian Wright-McLeod (Dakota/Anishinaabe), journalist, radio show host and author of The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet. And, we review the double-CD companion to the book, Soundtrack of a People (EMI Canada). By j. poet.

Books
A roundup of books for the holidays: Blood of Our Earth: Poetic History of the American Indian, by Dan C. Jones (Ponca) with art by Rance Hood (Comanche); Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom, by Tom Tingle (Choctaw) with illustrations by Jeanne Rorex Bridges (Cherokee); Fine Indian Jewelry of the Southwest: The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection, by Shelby Tisdale; Raven Traveling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, by Peter Macnair; and Thanks to the Animals, by Allen Sockabasin (Passamaquoddy). By Deborah Utacia Krol (Salinan/Esselen).

BUY THIS ISSUE