Douglas Spotted Eagle

Douglas Spotted Eagle stands out as a virtuoso on the Native American flute and an accomplished composer whose career encompasses both his own recordings and extensive work across film and television. Born and raised in Valley Junction, Iowa, he first took up the Native American flute at age 12 and built his own instrument; after his family relocated to Salt Lake City, he started a rock band that secured an opportunity to open for ZZ Top. He later set music aside to focus on raising his family, yet in 1988 he resumed creating music through home recordings that blended flute with synthesizer, eventually earning him a deal with Sound of America Records. During the 1990s he contributed to various Native American music projects and supplied music for such television programs as The Tracey Ullman Show, Millennium, and The X-Files, along with the PBS documentaries The Way West and 500 Nations and Robbie Robertson’s score for The Native Americans.