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Seth Eastman’s painting, "Indian Courting,"
depicts a young Dakota man sitting on a fallen log, playing
courting music on his flute. It is twilight on a cloudy,
seemingly blustery, perhaps autumn evening, and we can
see the object of his affection, a young Dakota woman,
standing in the background, cloaked in a robe, listening
to the music behind her family’s tipi. We are witness
to one of the first steps in a Dakota courtship, the wooing
of a young woman by a young man through music. Though
traditional methods of Dakota courtship have now mostly
faded from use, we still have a sense of them through
paintings by Eastman and other artists, as well as contemporary
Dakota flutists such as Bryan Akipa, who continue to keep
the music and spirit of Dakota courtship alive through
their art.
Music and song permeated all aspects of Dakota life,
from birth to marriage to death. It was, and still is,
an essential part of Dakota culture. Some of the music
played at wacipis (or powwows) is decades old, having
been passed down from generation to generation. The same
holds true for much of Dakota flute music. The song the
young man is playing in Eastman’s painting might
have been passed down to him by his father as part of
his own family’s unique cultural heritage, or might
be one of his own composition to pass down to a future
son. Some contemporary Dakota flutists have suggested
that many of the songs composed for the flute had lyrics
or words to go with them, but were unnecessary to sing
because the music was so expressive and evocative, full
of emotion and romance. As for the flute he is playing,
if it is not something he himself made, it, along with
the sheath lying at his feet, might also be a family heirloom.
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