The main idea of the article is that Darren Thompson is a Native American flute player who wants to teach others about Native American culture through traditional music. Therefore, the best option to fit in the empty box above would be:
"Darren Thompson is a Native American flute player who wants to teach others about Native American culture through traditional music."
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (Achieve3000, March 22, 2019). "Trees sing to us." Darren Thompson heard this as a boy. It was wisdom from Ojibwe elders on the Native American reservation where he grew up. The elders also told him that singing trees offer direction.
What did the elders mean? Thompson found out when he went to college. He missed home. So he started listening to the music of Navajo/Ute flutist Raymond Carlos Nakai. It made him remember his childhood.
As Thompson listened to the calming sounds of Nakai's Native American flute, the words of the elders made sense. Trees do sing. They sing through the flutes carved from their wood. These "singing trees" sent Thompson along a new, musical path.
Thompson bought a flute. He taught himself to play. He wanted to connect to the music of his ancestors. Music was part of the Ojibwe's language, culture, and religious traditions, which almost disappeared when government rules forced Native Americans to assimilate.
"I went out to museums to [study] actual instruments that were seized 200 years ago and taken into collections," Thompson said. What he learned was interesting.
For one thing, players traditionally carved their flutes. The Ojibwe call them "bibigwanan." Each flute had two parts. And no two flutes were alike.
"The length of [each bibigwan] would be the distance from that person's armpit to his first knuckle," Thompson said. "The width would be the same as the width of his thumb. Even the spacing of the finger holes is [matched] to the player's body."
Thompson now has several flutes. He carved some himself. Some have only four holes, which play eight notes. Others have five or six holes.
The Native American flute is enjoyed by many. But who can play it? People who play the Native American flute perform around the world. But some are non-Native American and do not belong to any tribe or nation. Sometimes their performances don't sit well with Thompson, now an award-winning flutist.
"The Native American flute is the name of the instrument. So anybody who picks one up and plays it can call himself a Native American flute player," he explained. "It's not so much the fact that they are playing the flute that bothers me. It's the fact that a lot of them are non-Native and try to play the part of a Native…. It's offensive."
In response, Thompson shares the authentic sounds and stories of his people in his shows. In February 2019, he performed at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in New York. Playing there was a dream he'd had for 10 years.
For his performance, Thompson chose songs recorded in the early 1900s, "before our culture got erased." His program captured the history, pain, and spirit of the Ojibwe people. These are stories that only "singing trees" may be able to fully tell.
Information for this story came from VOA.
what is the main idea?
Based on the Article, which fits best in the empty box above?
Darren Thompson is a Native American flute player who wants to teach others about Native American culture through traditional music.
Native American flutes were designed for each player, with different hole numbers and hole placements.
Native American music is performed around the world, and the Native American flute is enjoyed by many.
Darren Thompson's dream to perform at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in New York came true in February 2019.
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