FROM THUNDER BAY ART GALLERY’S COLLECTION

39

Artist: Harold Gesso Thomas

Title: Flute

Date: 1980

Medium: Wood, leather, beads, and thread

Dimensions: 32.2 × 2.7 cm

The flute is the sound of the wind. In some Indigenous stories, early flutes and other woodwind instruments were inspired by woodpeckers creating holes in tree hollow branches looking for bugs and termites. Wind blew through the trees and there was music in the air. There are many possibilities for the origin of flute in North America/Turtle Island, including migration, myth, and cross-cultural influence. Like the wind itself, one single story is hard to pin down.

This wooden flute, with open finger holes, was made by Harold Gesso Thomas (1952–1996), a well-known Mohawk artist from Akwesasne, also known as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. Thomas came from a family of artists and activists. He was the son of Georgia Thomas and Frank Standing Arrow Thomas, and brother to artist John B. Thomas. An active member of his community, he proudly designed an original logo for the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.

Thomas’s skills shone in woodcraft and design. Alongside the flute, which features leather and bead adornment, the gallery has five other works by him in our collection, including turtle rattles, bark rattle, small water drum, and a traditional Gustoweh headdress—all objects connected to ceremony, sound-making, and dance. It was clear that Thomas had an understanding, love, and appreciation for Haudenosaunee teachings, as passed on by the Iroquois generation after generation.

In my research, I couldn’t determine if Thomas played the flute or was a musician. His flute, however, led me to the music of David R. Maracle, who, like Thomas, grew up in Akwesasne. If you’re interested in hearing contemporary Iroquois flute music, I encourage you to check out Maracle’s compilations on Spotify and iTunes and hear his (original design) flute come to life (davidmaracle.com). There are many others, too. For further interest, there is also a documentary called Songkeepers (1999) that delves in the story of Indigenous flute music and its key players.