Kevin Locke, Who Worked to Preserve Lakota Culture, Dies at 68

Kevin Locke, who brought traditional Native American culture to audiences all over the world through flute songs, hoop dances and stories, helping to preserve both the art forms and the Lakota language, died on Sept. 30 in Hill City, S.D. He was 68.

His son, Ohiyesá Locke, said the cause was an asthma attack he suffered after performing at the Crazy Horse Memorial nearby.

For decades Mr. Locke was a familiar sight at cultural festivals, in schools and in theaters, playing his traditional wooden flute, performing hoop dances and explaining the history and meaning of the works.

He performed for small groups and in larger settings like Symphony Space in New York City, where he and his Kevin Locke Native Dance Ensemble presented a program in 2008 titled “The Drum Is the Thunder, the Flute Is the Wind.”

Sometimes he represented Native American culture in a global context, as he did at the 1996 New Haven Festival, where he shared the bill with the Celtic folk band Solas, Cirque Baroque from France, the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Shanghai Quartet and performers from the Beijing Opera.


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/arts/dance/kevin-locke-dead.html