When R. Carlos Nakai wraps his fingers around his cedar flute, he's doing much more than playing music. He's keeping an important part of his American Indian heritage alive.
"I found that the most important thing is to keep the flute going," he said, explaining that the art form was disappearing among indigenous peoples. "With the flute, I'm trying to reach out (to others)."
Melissa Lacey/Journal-World Photo
American Indian flutist R. Carlos Nakai, left, is in Lawrence this week, in residencies with local students and preparing for a Lied Center concert Saturday. Tuesday, he visited with Haskell Indian Nations University President Karen Swisher during a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Nakai, the world's leading American Indian flute player, this week is in Lawrence to participate in a number of residency activities that will lead to a performance with flutist Paul Horn at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lied Center.
Monday, Nakai spoke to Sharon Condon's intercultural communications class at Haskell Indian Nations University. The class was made up of Haskell and Kansas University students.
Nakai, of Ute-Navajo heritage, told the students stories that have been passed down through generations of his family and clan: His clan is named after a small red willow tree that grows in Alaska and serves as an indication of water on the tundra. The Dine had a strong flute-playing tradition, which was lost when they migrated from Canada to the Southwest centuries ago. Men in southwest Colorado would hunt down Indian and Mexican boys for sport, and ranchers and loggers burned the forests of Colorado in 1898 to drive the Indians out.
"I realize my responsibility with this knowledge and stories," he said.
Nakai, a cultural anthropologist, says he is continually researching indigenous peoples, the connection between their languages and how they understand their relationship to the world of tradition and the world in which they live.
"You want to know where you've come from so you'll know which path to take," he said.
Nakai, who is classically trained on the cornet and trumpet, chose the path of the wooden flute in 1972. He has incorporated electronic technology, such as digital delay and synthesizers, into his music.
Yet, while his music career is expanding, Nakai says he knows he must keep grounded in his heritage � to separate the world of tradition from the world in which he lives.
"The medicine bundle and the briefcase never mix," he said.
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