What is the difference between a Native American flute vs Native American style flute?

What is the difference between a Native American Flute and a Native American Style Flute?  The term Native American Flute is reserved by tradition and by law to refer to those flutes made by individuals of Native American decent. I am not a Native American. Therefore, the flutes that I make are called a Native American style flutes. I consider myself to be a contemporary not a traditional flute maker. I am not attempting to re create or romanticize the past. I use state of the art fabrication techniques and tune my flutes to a modern pentatonic scale such as can be played on a piano. It is my intention that the Native American style flute be open up to everyone so that you will have the opportunity to make your own music. The renaissance and further development of the Native American flute began in the late nineteen sixties. The dedicated effort of many flute makers has helped it evolve into the Native American flute that we see today. For more information on the history of the Native American flute go to the History of the Native American flute page.

When I began playing the Native American style flute I was not aware of its cultural origins. For me, its attraction was that this type of flute was easy to play and sounded nice. It was only latter that I became aware of its Native American roots. Ancient Territories flutes do not attempt to look like a Native American artifact. But, my flutes do pay homage to the Native American culture. It is my belief that this instrument has taken its place on a larger stage than that of any particular culture. The Native American style flute is played by people around the world. The Native American flute has gained this popularity because it allows each individual, no matter what his sex, race or cultural background, to speak from his own heart in the universal language of music.