Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Utah veterans are turning to Native American flutes to aid in recovery efforts due to post-traumatic stress syndrome.
- Artist Arlo Johnson, influenced by his upbringing, shares flutes and lessons with veterans for therapeutic benefits.
- John Baker, a veteran, has similarly found solace in flute-making after his wife's passing.
SALT LAKE CITY — Some Utah veterans have turned to an unusual therapeutic tool to help soldiers and other vets with post-traumatic stress syndrome – Native American flutes.
Artist Arlo Johnson grew up in the Four Corners area of New Mexico and during summers would spend time with his dad, whose work took him to the reservations.
Now he says he finds a sense of peace painting the red rock scenes of the Southwest, smelling sweetgrass and sage, and being surrounded by the work of Native American artisans.
"It brings me home. It takes me back to that land," he said.
So when he was looking for ways to help people with PTSD and related issues, he thought of a gift from his friend, the late John "Lakota" Hawks, who served with the 73rd Airborne Brigade. Hawks, in gratitude for nine months spent living in a camper in Johnson's driveway while getting care at the Veterans Affairs hospital, carved Johnson a flute and taught him how to play it.
Playing the instrument brought Johnson a sense of peace, and he thought it might do the same for the veterans and soldiers.
"In the flute, you have to take a deep breath, and you let it out slowly over time," he said. "Well, that is the same thing that they use in meditation to help you go into a meditative state."
So he started giving away flutes and lessons.
During a visit to a flute-making class at Salt Lake Community College's Taylorsville campus, he met John Baker.
Baker, a veteran and a class regular – he's taken the course about eight times – has made hundreds of flutes. He started providing flutes to Johnson, who passed them on to the men and women dealing with trauma.
The flutes, or rather the flute-making, has been therapeutic for Baker. Last year, his wife of 57 years died, after a yearlong battle with lung cancer. Baker took a break from the class but was eventually back in the wood shop.
"When I'm making a flute, it really calms me down," Baker said. "I'm taking a piece of wood, you know, that's already beautiful and then turning it into an instrument you can play and makes it even more beautiful."
"So it gets me out of the house, it gets me doing things," he said. "I know a lot of older people that when they get so old, they just stop and watch TV all day long. And so I don't want to be one of those people."
