Mandan bird bone whistles - hear here.

T Witko

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Jul 22, 2010
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North Dakota
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Thank you the nice compliment. I'm happy to be able to share the things we find here with our Tnet friends. I agree that there were likely a variety of uses for these. I will tell you that in the process of getting the whistles to work that I learned alot. It was well worth the effort.

Thanks
Kelly


this thread took it over the top

something that was pointed out to me just to say another compliment to kelly

he has 558 likes with 400 posts.....that really says something good to you my man

larson1951
 

this thread took it over the top

something that was pointed out to me just to say another compliment to kelly

he has 558 likes with 400 posts.....that really says something good to you my man

larson1951

That says a lot about ones character. I wish I were more like that. If He says something, it's worth while for others to listen.
 

T Witko,
Super-Cool and Thank You! That 7 minutes of my life was well worth it! 8-)
I'm a world away from N.D., way down here in S. Fla., I would probably never get to see or "hear" that in my lifetime. I don't know if our Seminole or Miccosoukii(sp?) natives down here have those or not. The Haitians down here are always doing something with chicken bones, but, I don't know nuthin 'bout that! LOL! Doubt they could make'em whistle, but, who knows! LOL!

I also wonder and would think, amongst the tribes and members, they would know what each persons whistle and calls sounded like, alerts, alarms, found food signal, and the such. Their horses probably even knew them.
I do beach hunting down here, as opposed to your artifact hunting, and truly appreciate that experience, again thank you.
I am a little concerned though. The whole video I noticed, (shhhh),
(you gotta buffalo on your back brother). :laughing7:
 

T Witko,
Super-Cool and Thank You! That 7 minutes of my life was well worth it! 8-)
I'm a world away from N.D., way down here in S. Fla., I would probably never get to see or "hear" that in my lifetime. I don't know if our Seminole or Miccosoukii(sp?) natives down here have those or not. The Haitians down here are always doing something with chicken bones, but, I don't know nuthin 'bout that! LOL! Doubt they could make'em whistle, but, who knows! LOL!

I also wonder and would think, amongst the tribes and members, they would know what each persons whistle and calls sounded like, alerts, alarms, found food signal, and the such. Their horses probably even knew them.
I do beach hunting down here, as opposed to your artifact hunting, and truly appreciate that experience, again thank you.
I am a little concerned though. The whole video I noticed, (shhhh),
(you gotta buffalo on your back brother). :laughing7:

Thank you and I agree with the wide variety of possible uses. (No he's not on my back, he's got it. :)
 

Kelly, your video is so Very Cool indeed! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do that and to post it for all of our friends on tnet. To hear the bone whistles have voices once again is truly amazing. I was very touched with the different sounds that each one can make. I hope to hear them again real soon. thank you again my friend!...Russ
 

Kelly, your video is so Very Cool indeed! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do that and to post it for all of our friends on tnet. To hear the bone whistles have voices once again is truly amazing. I was very touched with the different sounds that each one can make. I hope to hear them again real soon. thank you again my friend!...Russ

Thanks Russ, it was a great experience to learning to bring their voices back and an honor to share them with our friends here on Tnet. You will hear them in person soon.
 

Wow,to see or touch the past is special,now to hear it adds another dimension!
Thanks for sharing.
P. S. All samples sure had the multiple dogs attention.
 

yesterday kelly brought back my whistle frame and as you know by his great video that thanks to his time and hard work i now have 4 working whistles

lookie here.... the second one from the top in the center row will play 3 different frequencies

IMG_3856.jpg
 

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Ah the sweet sounds of times past. Now that they do what they were meant to do we'll learn to hear more of them. These are not just "whistles" they're very cool instruments.
 

yesterday kelly brought back my whistle frame and as you know by his great video that thanks to his time and hard work i now have 4 working whistles

lookie here.... the second one from the top in the center row will play 3 different frequencies

View attachment 779525

i now have 5 working whistles and all thanx to the musician kelly from mandan one of the experts on the mandans and their meticulous workmanship and fine artifacts
they musta been some tough and smart people to grow the large gardens of corn beans and squash so they cache away food which was enuff for 2 years in advance and also enuff to be able to trade with the network of sites along the missouri river in the dakotas

Ah the sweet sounds of times past. Now that they do what they were meant to do we'll learn to hear more of them. These are not just "whistles" they're very cool instruments.

yup yeppers i feel just lucky to own that frame

hey hey folks i wanted to give him a whistle as a token of thanks but he was just glad to help....a true long time friend.....
......i mean it.......i have spoken

thank you TWitko
 

i now have 5 working whistles and all thanx to the musician kelly from mandan one of the experts on the mandans and their meticulous workmanship and fine artifacts
they musta been some tough and smart people to grow the large gardens of corn beans and squash so they cache away food which was enuff for 2 years in advance and also enuff to be able to trade with the network of sites along the missouri river in the dakotas



yup yeppers i feel just lucky to own that frame

hey hey folks i wanted to give him a whistle as a token of thanks but he was just glad to help....a true long time friend.....
......i mean it.......i have spoken

thank you TWitko


the whistle just to the left of the broke KRF blade is the one that i got to work yesterday morning
it was split in half and half of it was missing......
..........so i took another back half of another one and they were put together with invisible tape.....
...then i made a reed out of that white mounting putty and got it to work cuz i didn't have any beeswax
what i mean about mounting putty is the stuff you can get at the office supply store and use to put pictures on a wall or album...it's removable so i can get some beeswax today and redo it
 

I bumped this back up to show a friend Kelly. Hope you do not mind.
 

i have good friend by the name of walter old elk......he is a registered member of the Crow nation.......
........he is from crow agency, montana which is a town in the crow res
he has done the sun dance twice
he has huge scars on his back and chest....i mean big
he worked for me from 1993-2000 and came to me as a very skilled roofer in the art of installing handsplit cedar shake roofing
he said when he did the sundance he felt it made him complete and brave and also a true warrior
he also told me the sun dance has been phased out but is still done in small groups and kept secret.....
......also after the bone pins are inserted and tied the person is not lifted off his feet like the ancient mandans did
he picked out 4 pins and a whistle from my collection which he keeps in his bundle.....just sayin'

the french traders said that the mandan children could get a variety of sounds from the whistles which were very interesting to them

larsonn1951
 

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