Coyote Oldman is an instrumental duo founded in 1986 by Michael Graham Allen (b. 1950, Alabama), the group’s founder, principal flutist, composer, and instrument maker, and Barry Stramp (b. 1959, Oklahoma), a classically trained concert flutist who joined as a performing partner in 1981. Allen began building and selling Native American-style flutes commercially in the mid-1970s, researching museum-held historical Ancestral Puebloan and Kiowa flutes (referred to as “Anasazi flutes” in some older archaeological and promotional sources) to inform historical replicas, and separately designed his own modern pentatonic-minor “Native American flute,” now widely used across the contemporary new-age market. Neither member’s biography documents a specific tribal affiliation. The duo has released 13 albums combining Native American-style flute with Japanese and Indian flutes, Incan panpipes, and contemporary instrumentation.

Mood and energy: airy, exploratory, world-instrumental. Recommended uses: reflection, sleep, nature immersion.

Sacred Ground Confidence Score: 3 out of 5 stars   Final recommendation: Approved.

Why this artist belongs in Sacred Sounds: A long-running, influential duo in the contemporary Native-style flute market whose founder’s instrument-making history (both historical replicas and an original modern design) makes them a foundational entry in this collection, clearly separated from the tribally-affiliated roster.