mechanism uses a fipple design using an external block that is fixed to the instrument. The use of open finger holes (finger holes that are played by the direct application and removal of fingers, as opposed to keys) classifies the Native American flute as a simple system flute. History There are many narratives about how different Indigenous peoples of the Americas invented the flute. In one narrative, woodpeckers pecked holes in hollow branches while searching for termites; when the wind blew along the holes, people nearby heard its music. Another narrative from the Tucano culture describes Uakti, a creature with holes in his body that would produce sound when he ran or the wind blew through him. It is not well known how the design of the Native American flute developed before 1823. Some of the influences may have been: Branches or stalks with holes drilled by insects that created sounds when the wind blew. The design of the atlatl. Clay instruments from Mesoamerica. The Anasazi flute developed by Ancestral Puebloans of Oasisamerica. Experience by Native Americans constructing organ pipes as early as 1524. Recorders that came from Europe. Flutes of the Tohono O'odham culture (often referred to by the archaic exonym "Papago flutes"). Although crafted by a Native American people, these instruments are not strictly Native American flutes since they do not have an external block. In place of the block, the flue is formed by the player's finger on top of the sound mechanism. This style of flute may have been a precursor to, or one of the influences for, the Native American flute. Flutes of the Akimel O'odham culture (often referred to by the archaic exonym "Pima flutes"). These flutes may have directly evolved from flutes of the Tohono O'odham culture, with the addition of a piece of cloth over the sound mechanism to serve as the external block. It is also possible that instruments were carried from other cultures during migrations. Flutes of the Mississippian culture have been found that appear to have the two-chambered design characteristic of Native American flutes. They were constructed of river cane. The earliest such flute is curated by the Museum Collections of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. It was recovered in about 1931 by Samuel C. Dellinger and more recently identified as a flute by James A. Rees, Jr. of the Arkansas Archeological Society. The artifact is known colloquially as