Dakota Johnson teaches U.S. history and Native American Studies at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. A student of not only flute playing, but also flute making, Goodhouse questioned elders about when exactly flutes became part of the culture. The classic elder response was 'it was a long time ago'.
"Sometimes events happen so long ago that they reach back further than living memory. So when we get that kind of answer, we have to accept it. But that's not good enough for me," said Goodhouse.
As Goodhouse told his story of mining details from the oral tradition of his culture, he touched on other tools available to historians, such as the archaeological record.
"So I then went to Dr. Ray Wood, who did most of his work in salvage archaeology along the Missouri River. And I asked Dr. Wood, if he had an idea for me about how long we've had this instrument."
It turns out the flute, according to Dr. Wood's research, had been on the northern Great Plains since 1100 AD. Goodhouse had learned oral traditional accounts from Keith Bear, the acclaimed flute player.
"Keith informed me that we had this flute for the span of ten grandfathers' lifetimes. And the span of a grandfather's life is remembered amongst our winter count historians, that it is 75 winters, 75 years."
See below for Dakota Goodhouse's interview from the UTTC International Powwow on September 6.