Jan Michael Looking Wolf, instructor of Native American flute at Oregon State University, has received the Odyssey Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music from the Global Music Awards, an international competition celebrating the achievements of independent musicians.

“Jan’s talent, creativity, quality of his work and generous contributions to other musicians are unique in the field of music,” the Global Music Awards said in a statement. “We appreciate his insistence on using and supporting the crafters of authentic Native American musical instruments. Jan has been a pivotal force in promoting and sharing both traditional and new Native American music in America and around the world.”

Looking Wolf is a world-renowned Native American flute player and is an enrolled Kalapuya tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde who resides within his Indigenous homelands in western Oregon. He has recorded 25 full length albums, hundreds of singles and solo works, and has collaborated with dozens of Native American recording artists including Felipe Rose, Mary Youngblood, Gabriel Night Shield, the Cherokee Youth Choir, Robert Mirabal and Sten Joddi.

As an educator, Looking Wolf has taught more than 16,000 OSU students how to play the Native American flute. His courses at OSU have received awards for being the most popular classes on campus and have some of the most ethnically diverse participation of any course offered at the university.

July 22, 2020