Douglas Spotted Eagle


Douglas Spotted Eagle is a musician and producer, primarily known for audio engineering and production, for which he has won a Grammy Award, as well as for playing the Native American-style flute. He is listed in the Library of Folk Music, The Native American Almanac, and NAIIP Musical Paths as a non-Native flautist who composes New Age and "contemporary ethnic" music.

Music career

His music mixes jazz, new age, pop, and world beat with his interpretations of Native American music. In his book, World Music, Richard Nidel described him as a flautist and film composer "who incorporates synthesizers into Native sounds."

Video production and software

Spotted Eagle is the producer of Sundance Media Group's 2002 video The Way of the Pow-Wow.

Background and personal life

Spotted Eagle is not Native American himself. Born Douglas Wallentine, he was raised in a non-Native family in Valley Junction, Iowa. After his family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, he was a guitarist in a Christian rock band.
He says he grew up around Lakota and Navajo families in Iowa and Utah, the former of which he says gave him his name when he was 14 or 16. However, his claims of adoption into any Native American culture, his use of a Native American-sounding name, and concerns around the Indian Arts and Crafts Act have led to writers and reviewers emphasizing that he is not Native American.
Spotted Eagle lives in Utah. He lost his son Joshua Davis Wallentine to suicide.
His hobbies include wingsuiting. In 2015 he was appointed the U.S. Team Manager for the First World Cup of Wingsuit Performance Flying.

Discography