For over forty years Kevin Locke a visionary Hoop Dancer, preeminent player of the indigenous Northern Plains flute, traditional story teller, recording artist, educator and cultural ambassador for the Lakota has gathered as many traditional songs, musical skills and dances as he can to preserve the Lakota culture and present it to the world. He is collaborating with Rich Dube an honored music educator from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on an accessible educational curriculum for the classroom to re-introduce tribal youth and Native American music enthusiasts to the traditional tuning and songs of the Lakota “Sioux” peoples of the Northern Plains. This project seeks to revive a nearly forgotten musical tradition and song culture. This project will introduce to many an ancient but now unfamiliar scale, being the flute’s traditional tuning, which is unlike the Western pentatonic scale and it will also explore the distinctive song structure which is “authentic” Lakota style. Rich Dube has found a way to recreate the traditional Lakota flute so that an affordable replica can be produced and the Grant made by PFW will enable the music teachers from North and South Dakota attending the 2013 Lakota Summer Institute in Fort Yates, ND on Standing Rock Reservation to be introduced to this flute music and the curriculum to take back to their students. This is a Project of the Lakota Language Consortium (www.lakota.org)
